The Wolf and the Jackal
by Infinite's Ruby
Summary: How did a friendless young wolf who wished on the stars for a friend meet a young jackal with mismatched eyes while on the run from a refugee camp? Witness how their once strong friendship eventually crumbles over time with a series of events leading both Gadget and Infinite to their separate fates. Discontinued.
1. The first meeting

The very first time that Gadget met his best friend in all of the seven short years of his life he never imagined such a chance meeting would happen when he chose to run away from the refugee camp he'd reluctantly come to call home. The small refugee camp that had been set up on the outskirts of Park Avenue to aid the victims of Doctor Eggman's latest attack quickly constructed in response to help the victims. There were several small tents hastily set up just on the outskirts of the town since Park Avenue was one of the more friendly towns which had welcomed the refugees with open arms.

Gadget paced back and forth making sure to remain silent in the large sleeping area. Most of the sleeping Mobians barely even stirred even in their sleep. Gadget felt a slight twinge of pain glancing at the bluish black bruises on his right arm.

Gadget turned around to reach under his pillow retrieving a creased photograph of a family of wolves. The three wolves looked up from the picture with smiles on their faces. In the middle of it was him when he was a baby. The photo was a bittersweet reminder of happier times. A time where Gadget had a family, and he wasn't alone in this world.

His mother's fur was a light red color with blue eyes. She wore her G.U.N uniform proudly, and his father was a white wolf who had also been in GUN that was taller than his mother, his brown eyes peered out a small mischievous smile on his muzzle.

"You have no idea how much I miss you both."

Both of his parents were victims of an Eggman raid launched on his hometown of Cyber City on Westside Island. Gadget had faint memories of the once lively city where he'd been born. Gadget felt the bitter sting of tears in his eyes. This world was so cruel to think that his parents had been taken away from him at such a young age when he needed them the most.

 _Why were they taken away from me?_

Gadget couldn't recall much of that day except a lot of chaos and panic. There were many different bodies pressed into his parents being carried by his mother along with a small group of Mobians were running towards a helipad the sound of Buzz Bombers swarming the skies swooping down to launch attacks on the fleeing Mobians. Behind the group of fleeing Mobians robots were crowding the streets killing any Mobian who didn't reach the helipad in time.

The helicopter pilot, a grizzled old Ring-tailed lemur, turned to face Gadget's parents a small frown creasing his snout.

"Sorry, folks, we can only take one more."

"Please take our son. We can wait for the next one."

Gadget was jostled letting out a low whimper reaching out for his mother's hand. He looked up, seeing the look of sorrow on his mother's face, and his father placed an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"Be strong little Gadget," Gadget's mother said, her voice was cracking. "Take this so we can always be with you."

Something had been pressed into his hand a small photograph; Gadget opened his mouth to say something, but the sliding door's hiss cut him off. Gadget cried out jostled by so many unfamiliar bodies and his parents looking at him with tears in their eyes before the helicopter had taken off leaving them behind to die. Gadget would later receive the news that they had perished along with all of the Mobians that had been left behind breaking his heart.

What was once Cyber City was now known as Genocide City where it had been sealed off from the rest of Mobius to prevent Eggman from adding his newly conquered city to his empire. Gadget felt the tears slipping down his face raising his left hand to wipe away the tears. He walked across the large room past the sleeping bodies coming to the window with the bright moonlight pouring in, and there were so many stars out tonight that it was almost impossible to count them.

"Hey, uh it's me again. I know that I'm a little too old to wish upon a star, but Chad and his gang went after me again and beat me up again," Gadget winced looking down at his bandaged right wrist. The nurse informed him his wrist was sprained. Gadget felt the dull throbbing through the bandage, and he sighed.

"Look, I know that you're up there doing starry things, but I'm not going to burden you. Can I please wish to have a friend you know? So, if one of your buddies does fall can you pass along my message please?"

The wolf peered up intently at the stars his tail wagging expecting to see one fall to grant his wish. None of the stars fell. Gadget's tail stopped wagging, and he let it drop. It seemed even tonight the stars were unwilling to fulfill the wolf's wish.

Gadget slid the photo back in its hiding place quietly making his way back towards his bed, bending down onto one knee slowly reaching underneath the makeshift bed, removing a small canvas sack opening it up. The bag's contents were three bottles of water several pieces of fruit he'd begged from the lovely chef lady, and a small grappling hook lay broken in two parts.

 _They're a bunch of meanies._ Gadget thought to himself. _I don't get why everyone hates machines around here._

Earlier the next morning after a breakfast of bland, tasteless gruel Gadget hummed a small tune walking along the hallway, leaving the mess hall, his attention focused on the small metallic device that rested in the palm of his white gloves.

"It's almost finished. My grappling hook prototype."

Gadget let out a low yawn making sure to cover his hand with his mouth. He heard the footsteps of the other refugees, some of them shot him nasty looks walking on ahead muttering low to themselves and the words Eggman worshipper under their breaths. It was true that his obsession with technology didn't win him many friends, but Gadget ignored it by focusing on his prototype of a grappling hook, pushing down the ache of loneliness he felt building up in his chest.

"I stayed up late last night, but it's almost time for its first test run," Gadget's attention drawn to his invention in progress that he didn't look up from the Grappling hook and he bumped into something.

"Well lookie here guys, it's the little freak."

Gadget's fur paled ever so slightly; he made eye contact with Chad a crimson furred maned wolf with green eyes and a short black mane residing between his ears. He wore dark gray gloves and beige hiking boots.

The second member of the trio of bullies was Mara, a jackal her sharp amber eyes who gazed at Gadget hungrily was dressed in a beige sleeveless shirt and torn jeans. Her hair was in the shape of a white mohawk between her ears. She wore white gloves and dark blue running shoes.

The last member rounding out the trio was Aster a slightly overweight cream furred Fennec fox with deep blue eyes. He wore black gloves with black and gold spiked bracelets adoring his wrist, and he wore light green hiking boots.

All three of the bullies were well into their teens both Chad, and Mara was only twelve years old. Aster, on the other hand, was fourteen years old.

Gadget swallowed nervously. It had been two years ago when the red wolf's tormentors came into his life. The leader of the group of refugees had found Chad, Mara and Aster sitting huddled together in one of Eggman's old bases and they'd been accepted into the refugee group by claiming that they had escaped from Starlight Zone when Eggman had launched an attack there.

"Whatcha ya got there?"

Before Gadget could even reply Chad reached out plucking the prototype out of his hands where the wolf yelped in alarm prompting Mara to step forward, placing herself between her leader curling her upper lip slightly as a warning causing the young wolf to fall back.

"It looks like that it's one of Gadget's little toys." Chad sneered tossing it to Aster who caught it, looking over at Gadget the small smile never leaving his face.

"Doesn't he know that being a machine lover is a big no-no?"

Gadget made a desperate lunge to reclaim his grappling hook prototype only for a rough hand to yank at the top of his head pushing him into the wall. He felt Mara's hot breath down the back of his neck, her claws digging into his skin. He didn't dare to even breath. Mara gripped him digging her nails so deep into his scalp turning him around forcing him to see both Aster and Chad playing a game of keep-away with his prototype.

"Anyone who loves machines is an Eggman worshipper."

A sudden hard shove sent Gadget sprawling to his feet feeling the hard kick landed on his stomach. A sickening crunch followed by pain through his right wrist. Gadget saw Chad throw his prototype on the ground making sure to stamp on it, leaving small metallic fragments on the ground. Aster was laughing following Chad pounding his fists together to relish in beating up Gadget.

"Let me go!"

The wolf tried to struggle to his feet feeling Chad pressing a foot on the small of his back keeping him pinned to the ground. The wolf Gadget attempted to turn his head, looking up hoping to see any form of mercy in his tormentor's eyes, he looked around looking the hallway hoping against hope that someone would hear his plight and would come to his rescue.

"Don't you know how much damage Eggman's done to this world already?" Chad landed a swift kick with his other foot hearing Gadget yelp. "We're going to show you exactly what happens to Eggman lovers around here."

The beating that followed was one of the worst moments in Gadget's life he was unable to fight back hearing the cruel mocking laughter coming from his tormentors. Every punch along with every kick inflicted on him was agonizing. By the time it was over Gadget's cries of pain had alerted a pair of volunteers, hearing the retreating footsteps of his tormentors fleeing down the long hallway.

Chad lingered for a few heart-stopping moments crouching down to Gadget's level his hot breath in the wolf's ear.

"Eggman lovers die in their sleep," Chad whispered. "If I were you I'd sleep with one eye open tonight."

After passing on his warning Chad fled down the hallway, leaving Gadget trembling in fear. The sound of his tormentor's footsteps caused Gadget's brain to panic sending thoughts of his impending doom racing towards him. In that instant Gadget realized if he didn't run away tonight, he would most likely die in his sleep.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Gadget was gently pulled to his feet, letting out a yelp of pain, faintly aware of the gentle voices speaking to him a kind hand was rubbing circles on his back soothing him. The wolf couldn't recall the last time someone had even shown him a little shred of kindness ever since losing his parents.

Gadget whimpered feeling the painful bruises on his body. He knew that he'd suffered a beating in the fight as he bent down, picking up the small sack with his right hand slinging it over his shoulder. It hadn't been comfortable deciding to leave, but after today's incident Gadget knew that it was for the best. He had no friends that would be worried about him, and after Chad's death threat well he knew that it would be carried out.

 _I have to leave, and it doesn't matter. No one's going to miss me._ The wolf thought. He slowly began to tiptoe out of the large sleeping area. He slipped out of the entrance to the camp away from the watchful guard making sure that his supplies were secure before he broke into a run heading to Green Hill Zone, where Gadget had set up a small cave as his getaway spot whenever he needed it.

What he failed to notice was the single star high up in the sky shining even brighter than before, and the ground was illuminated by the moon's light which was a relief to the wolf since he wouldn't be walking in the dark alone and unprotected.

* * *

Meanwhile, far out into the deserts other known as the lawless region in all of Mobius. An older dingo his yellow fur tinged with grey was running for his life glancing back over his shoulder seeing three black and white forme nearly blending in with the shadows. The young jackals pursed the dingo with the intent to kill him, the biggest of the four jackals raced ahead of his children his breath coming in short, sharp gasps turned his icy glare on their target.

"Kaito, Zerinn, fan out and tackle him from both sides," their father called out. "Dune stick close to me and move in for the kill on my command. I want Zerinn and Kaito to observe how a kill is made if Dune can't make the kill then do then all of you will go hungry tonight."

The second pup bared his teeth in anger putting on a burst of speed ramming into the coyote the force of the impact knocking the target off his feet, the dingo's back hit the hard desert sands looking into a pair of yellow and blue irises glaring down at him. The young jackal's lips curled upwards in a fierce snarl clasping a dagger between his fingers before he lashed out with it, a sharp tug on his dreadlocks pulled him away landing on his back with a thud.

Zerinn rolled over to see Dune glaring down at him disgust reflecting in his eyes seeing his younger brother placing a foot on his chest pressing down slightly on his chest ignoring the gasp of pain coming from Zerinn.

"Didn't you hear Father?" He said to hold the dingo down and let me go in for the kill," Dune sneered. "Have you forgotten that I am the future leader of the Jackal Squad and yet you chose to ignore his command, oh you're going to get it now little brother."

"You're too scared to make the kill yourself!" Zerinn growled. "I'll never follow you since you're going to be a pathetic leader who's going to get everyone in the Jackal Squad one day!"

The dingo seized his chance to escape scrambling to his feet only to have Cassius barrelling down on top of the dingo drawing his sword across the dingo's throat in a simple movement followed a by a pained gasp, his azure eyes staring sightlessly up at the skies.

"You have to be on your toes when it comes to making the kill," Cassius said casting a disdainful glance over at Zerinn. "Remember, Dingos will escape if given the slightest chance to do so. Wolves, are pathetic liars who'll backstab you the first chance they get. Perhaps it's time you take the trial of the desert."

Zerinn tensed, from a young age he'd heard faint whispers of fear from the other jackals about the trail of the desert. The trial itself was straightforward if a young jackal was deemed to be weak, they had to cross the desert in a single night with no food and no water. Every young jackal had done this trial, according to his father since there was no room in the jackal clan for weakness or deformity which meant that he'd been looked down on because he had a blue eye and it didn't help that his tail was slightly bigger than all of the other jackal's tails were.

"It's a tough test. One that only that the strongest of jackals can pull off," Cassius continued. "Do you think you can make it to Green Hill Zone before the sun rises Zerinn?"

"What happens to the jackal pups that can't cross the desert and reach Green Hill Zone when the sun rises?"

An older female jackal who scowled at him she held out a hand, preventing with a younger jackal pup with a green bandana wrapped around his ears trying to reach his older brother with something akin to fear and sadness in his eyes.

"Tell him, Cassius. If that little freak dies, so be it."

"They die. As so should the sick jackal children who don't make it across the desert," Cassius sneered. "We'll see if Kaito undertakes the trial when he's ten years old."

Cassius looked back at the younger jackal pup who fell against his mother's side with a whimper, where she kept her face emotionless ushering Kaito away from his potentially doomed half-sibling.

Zerinn's mother had died shortly after giving birth to his older siblings, and Zerinn was the youngest of the litter. Soon after his mother's death, Cassius had married Kaito's mother who worked as a barmaid in a local bar. A couple of years after they'd married when Zerinn was three years old, she had given birth to a single pup, and she had named him Kaito. She cared for her only son when he was still a baby, but his constant crying for milk got on her nerves so Zerinn had taken it upon himself to care for his younger half-sibling and the two of them were close to each other.

"Don't go, bro!"

Kaito wriggled past his mother running up to Zerinn throwing his arms around his brother's shoulders, pressing his head into his half sibling's chest gently letting out a low sob feeling Zerinn gently hug him back with one hand rubbing his half sibling's back in soothing circles.

"Hey stay strong okay? I will succeed, and I will be back soon I promise."

Kaito slowly nodded, still crying before Sera roughly grabbed his arm, pulling him away, landing a slap on the back of his head resulting in him sobbing even more. Zerinn clenched his fists, his lip curling slightly in anger at the way his Stepmother treated Kaito for he'd lost count of all the times she'd struck her son to stop him from crying.

"Oh, shut up! All you do is cry all the time," Sera snarled pushed her son before her, ignoring his whimpers dragging him by the arm towards the small abode roughly pushing him inside slamming the door shut behind her in a fit of anger.

"I'll cross the desert in a night and make it to Green Hill Zone before the sun rises, I'll show you that I'm not as weak as you keep on saying I am."

"Oh, we'll see about that Zerinn," Cassius informed his son, the small cruel smirk that appeared on his snout the sun was going down and Zerinn edged around his father."I'd get going if I were you Zerinn."

"Get going little brother. You don't want to be banished, or maybe your bones will be picked clean by scavengers," Dune called out. "Besides everyone will know you were far too weak to survive in this harsh world."

The jackal hadn't hesitated to break immediately into a run after hearing the word weak, heading out of the Jackal Squad campsite. Zerinn wasn't going to let anyone else in the future Jackal Squad he was a weakling he would prove to all of them he was strong.

The young jackal came to a stop panting for breath, looking up at the sky as the moonlight beamed down through the clouds lighting up the sands all around him. He scowled down at his stripes, which formed a ribcage pattern. He curled his muzzle cursing whatever screwed up genetics that caused him to have the same ribcage shaped pattern just like his Father's stripes.

No his father was wrong. He wasn't weak. He was strong. He was about to prove that to everyone. He was almost there; he looked up at the moon high up in the sky for he judged that it was close to two in the morning. The green hills were just in sight, and he couldn't afford to waste any more time. Only a few more meters and Zerinn would've been one of the few who'd completed the trial.

"Okay, I'm almost at Green Hill Zone."

The jackal inhaled before he broke into another run, he ran across the desert sands kicking up small clouds of dust the smile was on his face, for he felt the sand give way to the smooth, soft grass that was underneath his feet.

"I did it. I crossed the desert in one night," Zerinn let out a self-satisfied chuckle. "I knew that I wasn't weak. Now I need to kill someone and bring back their body as proof of my deed."

He then felt the first wave of exhaustion hit him slowing to a stop bending over his mouth was open, panting forcing oxygen into his lungs, his muscles screamed in pain from exhaustion.

He ignored the growl of his stomach rumbling with hunger along with his dry, parched throat. The faint trails of sweat ran down through his fur; he collapsed on the soft grass lying on his side looking up at the moon. The white glow shone down on him. His mind had to be playing tricks on him for it looked like that a star appeared to be shining brighter than usual?

Zerinn rested on the sweet-smelling grass for he could no longer fight the wave of exhaustion, his large ears twitched hearing the sounds of someone else come racing over the ground. The smile faded from Zerinn's muzzle. He spied the outline of someone running towards him.

The jackal growled at this new threat before he broke into a run heading towards the approaching figure only to feel someone collide with him. The force of the impact sent both of them crashing to the ground. Zerinn scowled rubbing at his forehead a small sneer forming on his face noticing a smaller red wolf also rubbing at his forehead wincing in pain.

"Agh watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry you came out of nowhere."

Gadget winced, looking over at the jackal with mismatched eyes staring at him, he was panting in rapid breaths his lungs were pulling hard. He looked exhausted now that Gadget got a good look at him, seeing the hostile expression on the jackal's face. The jackal simply pushed off the ground his legs trembling as he looked exhausted taking a few unsteady steps his thick tail dragging along the ground behind him.

"Oh! Do you need any help?"

Zerinn turned feeling a warm body press close to him, seeing the small red wolf who couldn't be older than seven years old slip under his right arm, helping him stand and he pulled his lips back in a grimace.

"No, I, don't." Zerinn tried to wriggle away, ignoring his body's protests feeling fatigue catch up to him again, feeling a gentle tug for the red wolf had a strange sack slung across his shoulders filled with supplies. The wolf was guiding him to a small cave that was not too far away in the distance. He chose to ignore the other male's voice.

"I'm Gadget by the way, what's your name?"

 _Is Gadget his name? Wow, his parents really must've hated him._ The jackal thought with a hint of amusement. He looked up through already closing eyes at the small smile on the wolf's face that was leading him against his will to the small cave where he would be able to get a good night's sleep.

"Zerinn. My name is Zerinn."

He saw the wolf's tail briefly wag in happiness. The two Mobians continued their trek towards the small cave. Gadget smiled, stepping inside it the small dirt cloud rose up into the air. The cave itself was vast on the inside that was big enough to shelter the two Mobians. Zerinn looked around the small cave his expression unreadable seeing Gadget beginning to lean against the wall.

"Hey, Gadget do you have any water?" Zerinn asked hoarsely well aware of his dry, scratchy throat.

"Sure I do, but just a couple of sips okay?"

Gadget hastily rummaged through his bag slowly retrieving one of the bottles of water handing it to Zerinn. The jackal chugged down half of the bottle licking his lips, letting out a low sigh of relief at having his thirst quenched.

"Thanks. Well, Gadget let's get some rest."

Gadget saw Zerinn carefully set the bottle of water down, lying on the ground and he was out like a light the second his head touched the ground. His sides rose and fell into a gentle, even rhythm. Gadget saw the slight scowl on the jackal's muzzle for he had to wonder if the jackal had ever experienced happiness in his life.

"Good night Zerinn."

Gadget walked back to his position against the wall slowly sliding down the rough rock surface. Gadget stifled the yawn that threatened to erupt from his mouth. Taking one last look at the sleeping jackal Gadget allowed a small, tired smile to grace his face.

 _He's a little odd. I guess that the brightest star did hear my wish after all._ Was Gadget's last thought before he gave into sleep.

High up the moon continued to illuminate the sky as the single star shone even brighter having brought two very different Mobians lives together having heard the wish of a young wolf.

* * *

Disclaimer _I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog._

 _Author's note_ _Well, then that's the end of the first chapter. Now then this is a new version of Broken friendship well since with the old version I just felt that it wasn't happy with the way it was being written, so I discontinued it._ _I am aware that Sonic canon destroyed the Avatar Infinite theory and that it is way too late to come out with an idea like this, but the plot bunny wouldn't leave my mind until this was typed out._

 _Cyber City/Genocide City was a scrapped level from Sonic 2. I wanted to give Gadget a bit of a backstory and having him born on Westside Island was the first thing that popped into my mind._ _A couple of my headcanons that I have for Gadget is that he invented the grappling hook himself and he was bullied a lot when he was a kid which led to him developing some form of anxiety._

 _So the idea that Zerinn's parents were abusive was based on a conversation I had with ToxicSpeka. They had some cool headcanons about jackal society, and I liked them._ _For those who are wondering why I went with Zerinn for Pre Infinite's name, it's because I couldn't decide whether to name him Finn who is the most common name I've seen for PreInfinite or to go with his prototype name Zero in early development for Forces I opted to combine the two names._

 _That's all from me, and any thoughts/ suggestions and reviews are appreciated._


	2. Tentative Steps

The darkness of the small cave was broken by the warm morning rays filtering in through the mouth of the cave. A gentle cool fall breeze slowly filtered in through the cave entrance as Gadget stirred ever so slightly in his slumber. He had propped himself upright against the wall, making sure not to lie on his sprained wrist. A warm smell blew in on the gentle breeze prompting Gadget's nose to twitch. His stomach growled nudging his brain into consciousness, his eyes slowly opening, placing his glasses on his muzzle.

"That was the best night's sleep ever," Gadget said happily. "I wonder if Zerinn's up yet."

Gadget scanned the area a small frown pulling at the corners of his mouth noticing that his sack was open and the bottle of water he'd given Zerinn was drained dry and the second one was half empty. Gadget couldn't help, but feel a stab of annoyance at the jackal's apparent selfishness.

"No, I don't think it's wise to get mad at him, and it does smell good whatever it is he's cooking."

Gadget followed the smell, stepping out of the cave greeted by the early morning sun peeking over the crest of Green Hill Zone. His sensitive hearing picked up the sound of the Flickies beginning their morning chorus the sounds of the running waterfalls not too far away from the small cave they were sheltering in, the fine mist of water droplets were rising from where the water struck the lake.

Gadget heard his stomach rumble again, his nose twitching detecting the smell of something was cooking. The wolf turned around spying a several meters in front of him there was a small campfire. Zerinn was sitting not too far away from it tending the flames being careful not to get burnt. He was holding something on a stick carefully roasting it for the second stick was embedded in the ground with something long impaled on the tip of it.

Upon closer inspection Gadget realized it was a snake that'd impaled on the edge of the stick. The wolf looked over seeing the lizard that was cooking with the jackal making sure that he wasn't going to burn anything.

"It's a good thing that you're up," Zerinn said offhandedly. "Your breakfast is almost ready. The snake's mine, and if you want to go hungry, that's fine by me."

Gadget felt his stomach recoil at the fact of eating that poor little lizard that'd done nothing to him, and it had minded its own business until Zerinn had killed it and how could the jackal be so casual about killing innocent creatures. He ignored the jackal's offhand comment.

 _You can pretend its chicken. Besides, it's all you have to eat for now._ Gadget hated his logic watching Zerinn looking at him. Those mismatched eyes appeared to be judging him. He slowly withdrew the lizard from the fire satisfied with how it'd been cooked waiting for it to cool handing the still steaming piece of meat to Gadget.

"Eat slowly and wait for it to cool," Zerinn warned him. "I don't want you burning your tongue yet."

Gadget watched the jackal make his way over to claim his snake sitting back down on the ground, taking the first hungry bite into his snake. Gadget swallowed the bile taking his first hesitant bite into his lizard. It was almost like eating chicken, which was a nice feeling. What was not lovely was feeling the tips of his teeth scraping across the surface of the white bone leaving an unpleasant sensation against his teeth.

"Just eat the flesh, don't eat the bones and the organs."

Gadget complied seeing Zerinn removing the bones from his half-eaten snake setting it down on the ground along with its kidneys, brain, lungs, and heart. The two of them ate in a comfortable silence depositing the remains of their breakfast on the ground. Zerinn busied himself putting out of the campfire.

"So then where is it that you're heading to?" The jackal asked casually. "Also, where are you from Gadget?"

The pair of questions caught Gadget by surprise. Under the warmth of the morning sun, he made sure to level his gaze at the jackal. The way that those mismatched eyes were watching him Gadget wasn't going to lie it made him nervous.

"I'm a runaway," Gadget answered. "I have an interest in tech and machines, and I want to be an inventor."

"Okay, you haven't answered my first question."

Gadget began to sweat nervously, feeling his heart begin to beat quickly mentally debating whether or not to tell the jackal the truth. Jackals were untrustworthy by nature and had been rumored to pretend to befriend anyone they came across only to stab them, in the back and take all of their possessions.

"Look, if you don't have a plan, then how are you going to survive in this cruel world?"

Gadget saw Zerinn beginning to stand up taking a few steps towards the wolf his expression remained neutral, but Gadget could see that thick tail swishing slowly from side to side stirring up small strands of grass that became stuck to his tail.

 _Just tell Zerinn the truth_. Gadget thought. The wolf took in a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. Here was the thing. He barely even knew Zerinn having met him previously just yesterday very late at night he might add. He'd only gotten to know him for two hours or more it was hard to tell since most of those hours had been spent sleeping.

He was sure that his absence would've been noticed at the refugee camp by now. He couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to put as much distance between himself and Chad's group as possible. The wolf would never admit it, but he was also slightly intimidated by the jackal. He could faintly make out his ribs, which were beginning to show on the jackal's sides, he still maintained that hostile expression on his face.

"Okay fine I was heading to Sunset Heights because there are people back at this refugee camp who want me dead because I have a fascination with technology."

Gadget ignored the small twinge of guilt having come up with a line, mostly due having lied before. Gadget saw a glimmer of surprise in the jackal's eyes for the corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. Gadget noticed that he was still maintaining that emotionless expression on his face.

"I'm not surprised that they want you dead," Zerinn replied coldly. "Eggman lovers aren't exactly popular. Besides, I've heard a rumor that a two-tailed fox that was bullied because he loved to tinker with machines."

Gadget knew the story of Sonic the Hedgehog. Having followed the unauthorized biographies about the blue hedgehog, his mother had brought home, and the news articles his father would pin up in their home. Sonic was Mobius' hero who'd saved the planet from Eggman many times over the years. He'd remembered hearing his parents talking about Sonic's first ever exploits when the Doctor had launched an attack on South Island and just at eleven years old Sonic had effortlessly defeated the mad scientist.

He'd also heard through whispers from the members of his refugee group that Sonic was currently in the process of taking back Westside Island from Eggman; his only companion was a twin-tailed fox only known as Tails who'd joined Sonic in his quest to help save Mobius.

 _If only he'd gotten to Westside Island sooner. Then maybe my parents would still be alive._

Gadget pushed away from the bitter thoughts forming in his mind making sure to hold out a half-empty water bottle, certain Zerinn saw it seeing the jackal's ears beginning to fold back against his skull Not an easy feat when he saw a scowl appear on Zerinn's face.

"You drank nearly all of my water," Gadget said slight anger creeping into his voice. "You're an idiot because I needed that water to last until I reach Sunset Heights, since I know there's an orphanage there."

He saw the Jackal's ears fold back against his head slightly, a small scowl forming on his face. Zerinn slowly got up approaching Gadget until he stood quite close to Gadget clenching his fist.

"Well, then you're not the one who was bone dry, thirsty," Zerinn said quietly with a hint of menace. "I'll tell you what I was doing in Green Hill Zone."

Zerinn took several steps towards Gadet causing the younger wolf to flinch in fear; the movement didn't go unnoticed by Zerinn, briefly smirking before he spoke in a severe low tone.

"Out in the desert if you're weak you becuase I was the runt of my litter, I had to do a stupid trial that involved me having to cross the desert in a single night, or I'd get kicked out of my clan," Zerinn replied turning on his heel. "Okay, we're even. You gave me shelter and water, and I fed you. You're on your own if you're heading to Sunset Heights."

Gadget felt his heart plummet to the bottom of his chest. There was no way that he could cross the desert alone not without protection. What if Chad and his gang were hiding somewhere out there in the desert?

The second notion that occurred to Gadget knowing Sunset Heights was at the other end of a desert. He knew that it would be foolish to wander about in the scorching hot desert until his supplies ran out and he died of thirst.

The tread of footsteps moving through the grass alerted him that Zerinn was already walking away. Gadget put on a burst of speed running ahead of Zerinn startling the jackal a scowl forming on his face. He folded his arms across his thin chest, his eyes narrowing appearing hostile to Gadget.

"What part of this is where we part ways do you seem not to understand?"

Gadget dropped to his knees, clasping his hands, looking at Zerinn with a pleading expression on his face, seeing the jackals' ears flick up in surprise. Gadget mentally kicked himself for resorting to manipulating someone like this emotionally, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Please. Look, we don't have to be friends, I need your help to get to cross the desert to reach Sunset Heights. The second we arrive there you can head back to your family I promise."

Zerinn gritted his teeth trying to avert his gaze away from the begging wolf. He was doing what Kaito did. Zerinn felt a small crack in his heart thinking of his younger half-sibling. He knew that without him Dune and Oasis would be tormenting Kaito. Usually, Zerinn would put a stop to it, however, due to his absence it made him worried sick about Kaito since his younger sibling hadn't grasped the concept of fighting back yet.

"Do you have any relatives?" Zerinn questioned setting his jaw. "I'm not escorting a liar across the desert."

"I do. An Aunt and an Uncle living in Sunset Heights," Gadget replied quickly. "My Aunt is my mother's younger Sister, but she didn't like my Dad, so they had a falling out."

Zerinn scanned the wolf's face to check for any signs that he was lying. Having found no signs that he was lying, he let out a low irritated sigh. Playing the role of escort to this naive wolf was the last thing that he wanted to do. It was something that could potentially get them both killed.

"Fine. Just stick close to me."

Zerinn was startled by the sudden impact of Gadget throwing himself right at the startled jackal drawing him into a hug. His tail wagging like crazy. Zerinn's first instinct was to push the wolf off him, but he and Kaito used to hug in secret because their parents viewed it as a weak notion and besides it was nice to be embraced. He felt the wolf release him who blushed ever so slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, and I won't get in the way I promise Zerinn."

"Fine then let's head out. I'm sorry about drinking your water," Zerinn said. "Let me make one thing clear Gadget. We're not friends, and honestly, I don't think we're going to be friends for a while, but I won't mind your company."

Gadget recoiled in surprise at the fact that the jackal had swallowed whatever pride he had and apologized. The wolf must have imagined that for a moment he saw Zerinn's face soften ever so slightly. For that brief moment, the jackal looked vulnerable, almost like an ordinary kid. His eyes seemed so lost, and unsure.

"I feel weak for apologizing to you," Zerinn muttered."I hate feeling weak."

"It's okay. You must've been thirsty, so we'll have to conserve our water supplies," Gadget said. "You're not weak for apologizing."

Gadget looked up at the midmorning sky. Zerinn dismantled their campfire scattering the twigs putting out the last of the dying embers before the two of them began their trek heading towards the border between Green Hill Zone and the desert that led to Saharais. Gadet went back to the cave gathering up the two bottles of water and his sack following Zerinn into unknown territory.

They weren't friends yet, but still, it was nice to know that he was no longer alone.

Meanwhile, back at the Refugee camp, Chad, Mara, and Aster walked out of the tent. All three of them were scowling with Chaturningng his head left and right scanning the area for any sign of Gadget. The camp was in a slight uproar with a few Mobians that genuinely cared for Gadget despite his strange behavior. Several citizens were running around the place calling for any signs of the red wolf.

"I can't believe it," Mara snarled. "That little punk ran off on us when we slept!"

"He won't get too far."

Aster tapped Chad on the shoulder. Chad spun around at the light tap on his shoulder irritation flashing in his eyes at the plump coyote bearing a small smirk on his muzzle for some reason.

"Aster if it's not something..."

"Look boss! That little freak left tracks behind," Aster said excitedly. "And they look like they're heading towards Green Hill Zone."

Chad followed Aster's pointing finger. Seeing the tracks that Gadget left behind for the wolf hastily had fled from the refugee camp embedded in the dirt a small smile spread across Chad's face that could only be sinister. Aster and Mara raced off no doubt to tell the Mobians in charge of the camp assuring the worried Mobains they would find Gadget and bring him back to the camp safely.

"Guys grab some supplies," Chad said. "We're going wolf hunting."

Mara raced off to grab some supplies giving Chad time to plan out his next strike mentally. The sinister smile never left his face. He was already imaging the best way to punish Gadget once he caught up with the wolf. The sound of Gadget's screams of fear would be music to Chad's ears.

* * *

 _Author's note_

 _For people who may be confused about when this story takes place in the timeline, it takes place during the events of Sonic 2 in case people are wondering. As a small note, this is going to a be a platonic fic between Gadget and Zerinn/Infinite. Their friendship is going to be built upon gradually._ Gadget _also wags his tail when he's happy because happy Gadget is the best Gadget._

 _Have a fact about jackals. Jackals are opportunistic scavengers, and they will eat whatever they can catch and snakes, and lizards are a part of that diet._

 _My apologies if this chapter was shorter then the last one. I was tired when I wrote it, and the next one won't be a short chapter._

 _Last, but certainly not least a big thank you to all of the people who reviewed._

 _The Mystery Guest. Thank you so much for the review. It pleases me that you're enjoying it._

 _Turquoise Triangle. Thanks for the review. Also, the Mobians that like machines and technology are often shunned and hated because the other Mobians are afraid that the machine-loving Mobians will run off and join the Eggman Empire._

 _Spider Dom 321 Thank you so much, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it._

 _That's all for now. As per usual Thoughts/ suggestions and reviews are welcome and I will see you guys soon with the next update._


	3. Across the desert sands

One thing Gadget quickly learned when he and Zerinn took their first steps into the desert he hadn't been prepared for the blistering heat during the harsh mornings of the desert. Unused to the heat, dust, and sand, Gadget spent a miserable day taking cautious sips of water. Zerinn followed his lead looking almost comfortable in the extreme conditions. On the other hand, the cold night desert breeze was a mixed blessing. It was a relief to no be hot anymore at least. The icy winds made Gadget shivering trying to warm himself up. He tried to suppress the shivers that crept up his body, noticing Zerinn didn't even seem bothered by the cold.

Gadget paused, seeing something out of the corner of his eye. He tilted his head, looking up at the vast night sky. There were many stars. It was wondrous. There were millions of stars that lit up the sky. Gadget stared up entranced by the beauty his tail wagging ever so slightly a look of wonder in his eyes. Gadget had a feeling that he could look at these vast starry skies forever.

"Come on! You need to keep moving!"

Zerinn's harsh voice snapped Gadget out of his thoughts seeing Zerinn glare at him for a second before he turned on his heel with a huff of annoyance. Zerinn resumed his fast pace, indicating that the sooner they got to Saharais the sooner he could leave Gadget to find his Aunt and Uncle. It would also free up Zerinn to return to his family the weight of the wolf's fate would be no longer be on his conscious.

True to character Gadget opened the sack to check on their supplies. Their bottles of water filled up with water at the tiny oasis that Zerinn had found. Zerinn reassured Gadget that the water was untainted. The fruit Gadget had stolen from the refugee camp was consumed otherwise they would've rotted rendering them not fit for consumption. Their trek through the desert under the relentless heat of the sun had been arduous.

Zerinn kept up his steady pace, turning his head back ever so slightly to see Gadget keeping pace with him a determined expression on the wolf's face shivering ever slightly. He was still walking in silence the corners of his mouth were turned down in a small frown betraying. Zerinn felt a little bubble of guilt gnawing away at his chest. Even though Gadget convinced him to take him to Sunset Heights, the wolf looked miserable wrapping his tail around his legs, rubbing at his elbows to keep himself warm.

"Hey, you're not too cold back there, are you?"

Gadget's head shot up in surprise seeing an odd expression on the jackal's face. "I'm a little bit cold, yes, but you must be warm with all of that thick fur."

Zerinn let out a low sigh slowing down, allowing the wolf to catch up with him. He saw the grateful expression in the wolf's eyes who pressed ever closer to him feeling the warmth of the jackal's fur.

Gadget ran his fingertips over the dense fur, Zerinn tensed tilting his head. From the corner of his eye ever so slightly seeing Gadget stroking his coat in wonder. Zerinn wasn't comfortable with physical contact especially with a stranger that just walked up to him to touch him.

"Stop it!" Zerinn's shouted harshly. "I'm not something that you can touch."

Gadget recoiled as though he'd been just stung withdrawing his hand from Zerinn's side.

"I'm sorry, it's just that your fur's so soft," Gadget replied pinning his ears back against his head. "I didn't mean to upset you Zerinn."

He heard Zerinn sigh still not even bothering to move away from him. Zerinn was an enigma. Gadget wanted to understand why the jackal was angry all the time. To Gadget the jackal couldn't be more than ten years old, but to be so mad at the world around him.

 _I want to help you._

Gadget looked all around the desert looking around nervously. The desert sands seemed quiet. The wolf couldn't shake the feeling that there was something out there watching them and was it his imagination or was a pair of eyes watching his and Zerinn's progress. The pair of eyes moved away as Gadget made out three shapes slowly following a fair distance behind them running from the rock pile to rock pile keeping their distance. There was no doubt someone was following them.

"Hey, Zerinn are you sure that there aren't any monsters out here?"

Siren paused in mid-stride, looking back at Gadget nervously glancing around at the vast desert sands expecting a monster to pop out of the dunes that would eat them. Here was the thing though. Zerinn was bored trekking across the desert playing escort to a naive wolf who resorted to the puppy dog eyes to get him to agree to take him to Saharais.

At the mention of the word monsters, an idea began to take place in Zerinn's mind. He let out a low, chuckle underneath his breath confident that the wolf was going to fall for it. It reminded him of a game that he used to play with Kaito. Zerinn took several steps towards the young wolf who froze in place. "Oh, some big hairy snakes are lurking beneath the sands out here," Zerinn said smiling. "They love to snap up little wolf children who stray across the desert sands at night."

Zerinn stood close to Gadget lifting his thick tail getting ready to drape it across Gadget's shoulders. "Oh no! There's one about to attack!" Zerinn cried out in mock horror. Gadget tensed feeling something thick and heavy drape on his shoulders. The wolf stiffened trying to jerk away from the object. He panicked for a moment his brain sending him messages that a big hairy snake had rested on his shoulder, prompting him to squirm batting away at the furry thing.

 _So this is it. I'm going to die._ Gadget thought. _Well, I'll guess that I'll be seeing mommy and daddy soon._

Gadget closed his eyes the tips of his nails digging into the thick hairy thing to dislodge it from his shoulders, hearing a quiet amused chuckle coming from Zerinn's direction.

"Gadget relax," Zerinn smiled, fighting the urge to laugh. "It's just my tail."

Gadget blushed in embarrassment, seeing that it was indeed Zerinn's tail draped across him. He glared. "'Zerinn! That wasn't funny!"

"Yes, it was," Zerinn doubled over in a small fit of laughter. "You should've seen your face!"

It was a bizarre difference. One moment Gadget was dealing with an angry jackal who appeared to hate the world but seeing Zerinn smiling and laughing it was like the jackal had dropped the cold barrier around him showing a different side to Zerinn.

"How far are we from Saharais?" Gadget questioned seeing the small smile fade from the jackal's mouth. He heaved a sigh pointing towards several silhouettes of tall towers in the distance that was several meters away.

"You see those tall towers in the distance? That's Saharais. We usually have lookouts stationed on top of them to warn the civilians if there's any danger heading their way."

Gadget shrugged feeling small butterflies in his stomach. The truth was yes Zerinn was still cold towards him, there had been brief moments that they'd talked when Gadget confirmed yet again he did have relatives in Saharais which seemed to ease the jackal's suspicions.

"So what happened to your parents then?"

Gadget's ears drooped slightly. The familiar ache of grief wormed its way up his stomach through the prick of tears threatened to spill out from the corners of his eyes. It still hurt so much. Even though it had been over three years since they died, he missed them every day.

"They were Agents of G.U.N," Gadget said sadly. "They died when Eggman launched an attack on Cyber City, and I still have nightmares about it." The wolf's eyes became watery for a brief moment.

Zerinn paused in his stride, feeling the wolf bump up right against him with tears in his eyes. He'd heard of the latest Eggman attack having overheard his parents discussing it late one night wondering if there was ever the chance that Eggman would ever set his sights on their small desert town. Zerinn recalled his father laughing at his step mother's concerns, claiming that their city was lacking in metals that Eggman would need to build his armies of robots.

Secretly there were times when Zerinn longed for both of his parents to drop dead. His father was the leader of the Jackal Squad for he'd decided long ago that despite his son's deformities Zerinn would be his heir pushing him relentlessly. He would also deprive Zerinn of food when he didn't do well enough in his training.

"You were lucky to have good parents," Zerinn said with a frown. "I think that mine just wants me and my younger half-brother dead."

His ears twitched hearing the small gasp of horror when a sudden impact told him that Gadget was wrapping his arms around his shoulder, drawing him into a hug where he awkwardly returned the hug, holding the sobbing wolf close to him rubbing a hand on Gadget's back in a circle hoping to soothe the wolf.

"My mother died after I was born," Zerinn said quietly. "My father and older siblings have hated me ever since then."

"That's awful, and I'm so sorry to hear that," Gadget mumbled. "I do mean it by the way."

Zerinn lifted his hand off on the young wolf's back. They resumed their walk in silence the only sound was their footsteps sinking into the sand. The tall wall that Gadget seen slowly rose up into view as a low howl cut through the nighttime air. Gadget stiffened. He would know that howl anywhere. He saw Zerinn tense looking around the area his large ears were twitching, trying to detect the source of the sound.

"Well well lookie at we have here."

Gadget felt a chill down his spine seeing Chad stepping out of the shadows with Mara and Aster following right behind him the three bullies formed a line between the duo and Saharias with a nasty grin appearing on Chad's face.

"I suppose these are the Mobians that want you dead," Zerinn whispered underneath his breath, seeing the terrified expression on Gadget's face. "We can take them."

"Yes, they are."

"Hey jackal hand over the Machine lover, and we'll let you go on your way," Mara said coyly her ears pinning back sizing up Zerinn. "Although I don't mind roughing you up as well."

Zerinn inhaled deeply his chest rose as he did so before letting loose a loud howl causing Gadget to flinch putting his hands over his ears protecting them from the noise. He saw the group of bullies recoil from the loud noise with Chad scowling at Zerinn.

"Shut up you weak little pup!" Chad cried out as Zerinn cut his call short racing across the sands to collide with Chad. Zerinn dodged the first punch tripping Chad up planting his tail on the ground, landing a couple of kicks on Chad's side. The maned wolf grunted in pain.

Gadget faced both Mara and Aster who turned their attention towards him. He ducked to the ground, breaking into a run tripping up Aster who collided with Mara sending the two of them sprawling on the desert sands.

"Get him! Kill the machine lover!"

Aster was the first to get to his feet a snarl on his face; he ran at Gadget again stepping on Mara's tail in the process, hearing a yelp causing her to tackle Aster knocking him back on the sound a cloud of sandy dust rose up from where their bodies hit the dunes.

"Come here you little freak!"

Mara stuck Gadget hard across the muzzle knocking him flat on his back with Mara pressing down on his chest a small clenched in her left fist. Aster ran over to help hold Gadget down while she ended his life. Gadget thought his fingers were quickly grabbing the sand beneath his fist throwing it right at Mara's eyes who turned her head away, dropping her dagger to rub at her eyes allowing Gadget to kick her in the abdomen.

"Oh, that's it! No one messes with us and lives!" Aster snarled.

Gadget wasn't going to be afraid anymore; he clenched his fist tucking his thumb on the inside of his fist punching with all of his might landing a blow on Aster's nose who reconciled with a pained howl for Gadget winced feeling his thumb on his left-hand break from the impact.

Gadget hissed in pain emitting from his thumb, but the sight of Aster staggering around with a nosebleed was worth it. Over the last few years of Chad's group bullying Gadget. A small bubble of pride rose up in his chest. He'd did it. He had fought back against his tormentors.

"Gadget!"

Gadget turned hearing Zerinn's voice around to see Chad wrestle Zerinn to the ground, placing a foot on the young jackal's back, pinning him in place bending down on one knee to land several punches in a row hearing the jackal yelping in pain.

"You punk I'm not weak!" Zerinn placed his hands on the sandy floor attempting to push himself up off the ground openly to hear Chad laugh applying pressure to his aching back forcing him down to the desert sand. He hated this feeling of weakness all he wanted to do was to scream in frustration. If any of his family saw him now, he knew that the teasing would never stop and his siblings would never let him live it down.

"So then you're going to find out exactly what happens to those who protect machine lovers."

Chad smirked slowly removing the small dagger from its sheath preparing to stab Zerinn only for the sounds of heavy breathing a lightweight slammed into his side. The pressure was on Zerinn's back from the corner of his eye; he saw that Gadget had tackled Chad wrapping his arms around the maned wolf's chest preventing him from moving.

"You damn little punk!"

Gadget could feel Chad's furious struggle to get to his feet. Zerinn was already getting to his feet racing over to lend him a hand only to hear the sounds of footsteps. Three jackals came running from seemingly out of nowhere for the leader of the trio of jackals had many scars on his body, and in his right hand, he was clasping the hilt of a short crimson sword embedded with several smaller sapphires.

"Jackal Squad! Subdue the intruders!"

It was all over in the blink of an eye. The first thing that Gadget felt was a rough hand grabbing him by the sack tossed away to the ground; he'd briefly glimpsed the battle-scarred jackal snort pinning Chad to the ground resting the tip of his sword against Chad's throat.

"Don't move if you know what's good for you punk."

Mara and Aster had been subdued by the other two jackals who slowly walked back towards their leader underneath the midnight glow of the moon. The jackals were deaf to the coyote and other jackal's protests demanding that to let them go.

"Cassius, what do we do with these three?"

The leader of the jackals who'd led the attack turned to regard the bullies who had a look of fear plastered on their faces for Cassius looked equally unimpressed with them.

"Take them back to the camp and keep an eye on them," Cassius turned a small scowl forming on his face spying his son hurrying over to where Gadget lay on the ground. "I need to talk with my son."

'Gadget are you okay?"

Gadget looked to see Zerinn holding his hand out, allowing Gadget to take it, he shakily stood up on his feet. Aware of the glare that the scarred jackal shot him, he opted to keep quiet for the scarred jackal got to his feet forcing Chad to walk with him. Zerinn turned to face his Father a defiant expression on his face seeing Cassius come to a stop a small scowl forming on his face. Gadget could feel the tension in the air between father and son. Gadget could see the way that Zerinn's tail lashed from side to side, glaring in anger at his father his fists clenched.

"So you passed your trial after all."

"I did, and this is Gadget," Zerinn introduced Gadget. "He's heading to Sunset Heights since he has relatives there who are willing to take him in."

Cassius still kept an ironclad grip on Chad narrowed his eyes staring Gadget right in the face scrutinizing every detail of his face. He heard an annoyed sigh coming from the bigger jackal who shot a glare at Zerinn. Father and son did lookalike especially since they both shared the ribcage stripe pattern on their bodies and the long white mane of dreadlocks.

"Hi, I uh, met your son and I think that you know my Au-"

"I know about the wolves that you're looking for," Cassius growled. "I was near Sunset Heights pursuing a thief when the coward ambushed two wolves who looked a bit like you and shot them dead. Don't mourn for their deaths; wolves are backstabbing liars anyway."

Zerinn glanced over at Gadget seeing the wolf's eyes closing in in grief. Cassius said nothing glaring down at Gadget his lip in a snark. His face contorted into a hateful expression. The wolf was aware of the cruel laughter coming from Chad hearing a sharp smack silencing Chad. Cassius walked on ahead pulling Chad along with him the other two jackals walked ahead of them with their prisoners in tow.

"Come on. I'm sorry for your loss."

Gadget felt Zerinn drape a gentle arm around Gadget's shoulder. His Aunt and Uncle were gone too. Deep down Gadget wanted to scream in both frustration and sadness. He had to wonder what he'd done to deserve losing his family members.

"We're heading back to our campsite," Zerinn said. "It's nothing fancy since you'll most likely have to share a tent with my half-brother and I. If someone dared to hurt Kaito I would have no idea how I would react."

"Whose Kaito?" Gadget asked, wiping away a tear on his face.

"Oh, he's my younger half-brother, and he's, uh pretty excitable," Zerinn said smiling softly. "I think that you'll like him."

Gadget looked all around at the vast streets and the buildings carved from stone with a dull interest in vain trying to ignore the weight of his breaking heart inside. He had no home, and he still let a few tears slip down his face. He was scared due to not knowing what was going to happen to him.

"You can say with us," Zerinn said. "I'll have to talk to my dad, but I'm sure that you can."

Gadget's ears twitched a tiny smile appeared on his face, his tail wagged slowly in mixed feelings. He felt Zerinn sling an arm around him gently guiding Gadget into unknown territory. The only thing that comforted Gadget was the fact he had Zerinn at his side.

* * *

 _Disclaimer I don't own anything, not the characters and everything else since it all belongs to SEGA. The only things I own are my OCS and Saharais._

 _Author's note._

 _Well, with three chapters in and Zerinn is slowly starting to warm up to Gadget after the tense start between the two of them._

 _The scene where Infinite pulls a prank on Gadget was inspired by the Sonic wiki where the article on Infinite states that he hates boredom and it gave me an opportunity to show of Infinite's more playful side since at this point he's escorting a young wolf who is naive and new to the world._

 _Now then time for the review replies._

 _Guest Thanks! Yeah well, the bullies were part of Broken Friendship, and it was always the plan to bring them back for the rewrite. They'll get what's coming to them later on._

 _SD321 Thanks! Zerinn I'd imagine even as a kid he was hostile towards strangers, and he doesn't like to have his way be challenged, and it presented an opportunity for me to show that their first interactions didn't go so well, but it will improve with time._

 _TGN Thank you. Well considering that they met just last night they're still at the acquaintance stage and as the story progresses, there is going to be a friendship between the two of them._

 _Arctic Starflower Thank you for the review. They are so young and naive especially Gadget while Zerinn is a bit more knowledgeable about the world and you'll have to wait and see how they'll play off one another._

 _Turquoise Triangle I know that Wolf hunting is an awful suggestion and on the subject of Mobians hating machines, the Mobians aren't afraid of devices that will benefit them such as cars, dishwashers and hair dryers. They are scared of the machines that are used as weapons, and that's why most of the refugees are wary around Gadget._

 _That's all for now, please don't hesitate to leave thoughts, suggestions, and reviews which are always welcomed and appreciated and I will see you guys soon with the next chapter._


	4. A new home

The early morning sun slowly began to rise over the western horizon. The predawn colors of the light red and blue colors lit up the skies. The small party made its way across the desert sands coming to a large clearing where Gadget could make out the distant shape of a temple several meters to the northwest of the small campsite, a group of jackals walking by Cassius nodded at him respectfully before leading a small team out somewhere in the desert.

Gadget gazed around the campsite in wonder. The wolf never imagined he would have seen a lively place seeing several jackals, coyotes, foxes and maned wolves moving about the campsite putting out fires which had been burning all night long to ward off predators the night guard stretched their legs heading of into makeshift tents to be replaced by another Mobian

The refugee group which he'd formerly been a part of mostly consisted of bears, hedgehogs, birds, cats, dogs, and rabbits. Since he'd been the only wolf in the group, he was met with suspicion since wolves weren't known to mingle with the other races of Mobius. Wolves in everyone's opinion usually formed tight pack bonds with each other, but it was rare for a wolf to head out on its own.

"Welcome to our home out here in the desert," Zerinn said grinning. "Just stick close to me since we're all a little wary of newcomers here, also to make sure no one impales you by accident."

Cassius said nothing to Zerinn keeping an ironclad grip on Chad felt an uncontrollable rage upon hearing his son was giving away information to a wolf of all Mobians. Mara and Aster escorted by the other two fierce jackals leading them away ignoring their loud protests. Gadget felt a small, twinge of satisfaction knowing his bullies were now prisoners unable to attack him. Cassius huffed in annoyance turning his head towards another male jackal bowing his head in respect.

"Ace and Flint, please get these three out of my sight," Cassius said glaring at Mara lifting her head glaring back at the battle-scarred jackal. "I will deal with these three later."

"Understood boss," Flint said placing a firm hand on Mara and Chad leading them away. "Follow us, and neither of us wants to hear a word from you got it?"

Ace took hold of Aster following his squadmate taking their prisoners to the only rundown building in the whole campsite with Ace opening the door allowing Flint to force their prisoners through the door od the old building nearly closing it on Mara's tail before positioning themselves in front of the door, lowering their katanas blocking the only entrance.

Gadget nodded his thoughts coming back to the present looking over at the foxes, aardwolves, wolves, fennec foxes, jackals, maned wolves, and coyotes milling about in the market square a variety of male and female voices were talking over each other trying to bargain with shopkeepers, preventing their children from wandering off.

Cassius' group walked past the makeshift stalls various species of Mobians running the different stalls selling a wide variety of weapons desert delicacies, and beautifully crafted jewelry that was pleasing to view to the naked eye.

"Fresh scorpion tails! Get your Scorpion tails right here!"

"Finest jewels in all of Saharais!"

"Sale on the latest weapons! Best way to kill your enemies in their sleep!"

The vendor's voices drifted on the wind. Gadget paused. His nose twitching was inhaling the different scents his stomach growling in hunger. He was tempted to go into the bazaar and purchase that delicious food, but he had no money and Gadget doubted that Cassius was going to have a change of heart choosing to buy something for them all to eat.

The small party soon left the small makeshift market behind them heading towards five more tents set up on the outskirts of the camp

Gadget looked to his left hearing a rustle of the tent flaps a pair of older jackal children poking their heads out glowering upon seeing a wolf in their midst a small movement alert prompted Gadget to look to his right seeing another young jackal sticking his head from out of the tent flap. Upon seeing Zerinn, his tail began to wag in excitement. A broad smile appeared to split the young jackals' face in half, the wide smile splitting the jackal's face in half.

"Uh oh," Zerinn laughed. "Gadget be prepared to say hello to the most excitable jackal pup in all of Saharais."

The jackal paused for a moment to adjust his bandana on his ears the smile never left his face. Before anyone could even react, the young jackal put on a burst of speed one that could rival Sonic's making a beeline straight for Zerinn.

"Brobrobrobro!"

Zerinn was knocked over by the force of Kaito leaping against Zerinn's chest causing him to lose his balance landing on his back the puff of dust rose into the air. Kaito happily embraced his older half-sibling his arms wrapping tightly around his brother his tail wagging like crazy.

"Wow, that's quite the welcome," Gadget chuckled softly. "So, that's Kaito huh?"

"You're back! I knew that you'd pass your trial!" "Dune and Oasis said that you wouldn't, but you did!"

Zerinn winced feeling Kaito's hug triggered wincing at the sudden pressure on his ribs. Kaito was starting to get a little muscle on his arms seeing the two white stripes adorning on both of his half sibling's arms like a pair of bands.

"Kaito please let go of me. There's someone I want you to meet," Zerinn wheezed. "This is Gadget. "He's going to be staying with us."

Kaito loosened his grip slightly turning his head to gaze at Gadget who nervously smiled. Gadget could tell straight away Kaito was related to Zerinn. He had a large white patch of fluff on his chest; those bright yellow eyes sized up Gadget, his lips pulled back exposing his teeth.

"Hey, you're Kaito.?" Gadget asked. "If so it's nice to meet you. I'm Gadget."

Kaito narrowed his eyes at Gadget hugging Zerinn even tighter ignoring the protest from his family member that he couldn't breathe. Gadget looked uneasy seeing the intense look from the seven-year-old. The thing was Kaito didn't like that this stranger that suddenly sauntered in claiming to be an acquaintance and he was going to take his half-brother away from him.

"My half-brother. No, you can't have him." Kaito said flattening his ears in a gesture of defiance.

"Kaito! Stop displaying that sign of weakness and get of Zerinn!"

Cassius' sharp voice cut through the air. Kaito flattened his ears slowly releasing Zerinn the smile faded from his face standing next to Zerinn who lowered his head still staring defiantly at his father in contempt clenching his fists.

"That kind of weakness will both get you killed one of these days Chaos so help me," Cassius said rubbing at his temples. "Weakness is a curse. The only thing that you should focus on is your strength."

He tilted his head ever so slightly hearing the Gadget's footsteps the wolf had placed one of his feet on the marble steps turning his head around slightly folding his ears back in a gesture of submission.

"What do you think that you're doing?"

The speaker was revealed to be a female jackal glaring down her muzzle at Gadget. A disdainful expression appeared on Sera's face the long light blue sari clung to her skinny frame. Her arms adorned with gold bangles and anklets just above the grey sandals above her ankles her sharp eyes inspected Gadget over his body. The wolf began to shake and shiver lightly.

"Oh uh my name's Gadget and I'm an acquaintance of Zerinn, and I lost my fam—"

"We're taking in an orphan dear," Cassius interrupted Gadget. "He's already worthless."

Sera jerked her head towards the smaller building taking several steps towards Gadget who stepped back a nervous expression was on his face. He could feel the waves of hostility rolling of Sera who looked down at him a sneer on her face her tail slowly swishing back and forth.

"You're going to be staying in that tent with Zerinn and Kaito," Sera sniffed disdainfully at Gadget." I won't have mismatched pups tainting our perfect home."

Gadget felt Zerinn tap him lightly on the shoulder guiding him over to the smaller tent with Kaito following not too far behind them looking back over his shoulder to see Cassius lightly touch Sera on the shoulder the two of them leaned their heads in close to each other talking in low tones.

Gadget wasn't sure what to expect of his new home. The second Zerinn pushed on against the tent flap all three of them began to cough from the little clouds of dust floating up from the heavy material; Gadget looked around his surroundings seeing three sleeping bags lying on the sandy ground, the tent flap closed sending up small clouds of dust into the air.

"Agh Kaito I thought you said that you cleaned up!"

"I did it with my tail, "Kaito said proudly holding up his tail covered in dust. "I'm Mr. Dusty tail."

"Gadget you can have a look around," Zerinn called out. "I've got to give Mr. Dusty tail a bath, in our cruddy makeshift showers outside."

Zerinn led Kaito away protesting that the didn't need to be bathed leaving Gadget to explore their shared home for the time being and possibly the future. The wolf bent down to examine the sleeping bags checking for scorpions, or venomous snakes were slumbering in them.

 _"An unsafe bed often leads to unwanted deaths."_ Gadget recalled an old saying of his mother for he exited the tent heading back out into the harsh desert air, deciding to explore the nearby area towards one of the stalls noticing a small crowd staring intently at a small TV resting on the stall bench. Gadget made his way through the crowd seeing the image of a dingo reporter looking pleased and was trying his best to maintain a professional attitude, while unable to hide the beaming smile on his face.

"Westside Island was liberated today by the heroic actions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Tails Prower." The dingo said. The screen transitioned from the newsroom to the blue skies over the northernmost parts of Mobius where a giant grey egg-shaped ship was seen plunging towards the ocean smoke and flames traveling from the Death Egg looking like it was heading towards the ocean.

"The Death Egg was sighted heading on a crash course towards the Northern part of the ocean. Clean up crews and GUN are already heading to the location to arrest Dr. Eggman will be arrested on charges of global terrorism, converting small animals into robots and for his attack which led to the Cyber City massacre that took place over three years ago. He will be arrested and taken to G.U.N's highest security facility where he will await his trial."

The dingo shifted the stack of documents in his hands. "There will be more on this story when it updates."

Gadget sank into the bed a small content smile was on his face. Sonic had done it again. He'd defeated Eggman, and in a way, he had avenged not just his parents, but all of those Mobians who lost their lives when Eggman destroyed his home.

 _Someday I'm going to be a famous hero just like Sonic the Hedgehog._ Gadget vowed to himself.

"Attack!"

Gadget was nudged out of his thoughts a light impact slamming into him causing him to tumble to the ground with Kaito sitting on top of his chest water dripping down from his fur he felt a slight stab of pain from one of his bruises.

"How do you like that? I was stalking you." Kaito shook out his wet tail sending small droplets of water everywhere before Zerinn came racing into the room a scowl on his face a towel in his hands.

"Kaito! Honestly, I know that you're not sure of Gadget yet, but he is going to be living here with us from now on."

Zerinn gently pried Kaito of Gadget rubbing the towel all over Kaito who squirmed. Zerinn rapidly dried Kaito off before he could shake himself off again sending even more water everywhere.

"Now what's wrong with you?" Zerinn scolded Kaito gently. "You've never jumped on anyone like that before."

"He's going to take you away from me!"

Kaito let out a low whimper with tears in his eyes. Zerinn sighed drawing his younger brother close to him. Kaito snuggled into his half sibling's chest small tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"Listen to me Kaito. No one is going to take me away from you."

Hearing his half-brother emit a small sigh. Gadget saw those mismatched eyes turn to gaze at him, removing the towel from Kaito. Of course, he should've known that Zerinn would have a family member that he genuinely cared about and the thing was Kaito felt threatened by his presence.

"Listen Zerinn I should go," Gadget said with a frown on his face. "Kaito may not be comfortable having me here, and I don't want to do anything to upset him further."

The truth was Gadget didn't have a plan on where he was going to go. Maybe there could be a tent where he could sleep for the night and with Chad's group locked away he somehow get some supplies and make his way to Sunset Heights even if the trek killed him.

Gadget let out a low sigh slowly walking back towards their shared tent preparing to enter it feeling a set of claws dig lightly into the tip of his shoulder he turned to meet the pair of mismatched eyes. Zerinn had stretched out his arm draping it around Gadget. His left arm was wrapped around Kaito's shoulders holding the sniffling pup close to him.

"Look you're not going anywhere," Zerinn said earnestly. "Kaito, Gadget's lost his family, and he's not going to take you away from me. No one else is going to look after us, and we're sticking together."

Gadget saw the young jackal sniffle lifting a hand to wipe away his tears. He turned to make eye contact with Gadget his tail slowly wagged from side to side cautiously.

"Hey, your half sibling's right," Gadget said soothingly. "He will always be your older half-brother, and he's too strong to let anyone or anything ever take him from you."

Kaito nodded the small smile appeared. The three of them broke apart from each other feeling like a bond was starting to be formed between them. The sweet moment was interrupted by Gadget's stomach rumbled in hunger causing him to blush from embarrassment.

"Was that your stomach Gadget?" Zerinn laughed in amusement.

"It was! I heard it," Kaito chimed in joining in. "We'll have to get some breakfast. Dune and Oasis raided our fridge and stole all of our food while you were gone."

Zerinn smiled walking away back towards the makeshift stalls. Gadget noticed that the tension between them vanished as Kaito ran ahead past his older half-brother into the warm morning sunlight. He felt the sharp pain coming from his thumb realizing that Zerinn noticed his slight discomfort.

"Just some advice Gadget," Zerinn said. "The next time you ever get into a brawl with someone make sure to keep your thumb tucked outside of your fist, so you don't break it. I've had to learn that lesson myself."

"We know a good place to get breakfast," Zerinn said. "This place may look pretty during the daytime, but things do get dangerous at nighttime."

Gadget heeded the jackal's warning stepping out into the warm rays of sunlight following the pair of jackals pausing for a moment to grab his canvas sack following the half-siblings into the campgrounds eager to explore his new surroundings.

* * *

 _Author's note. A calm after the storm chapter to establish where Gadget's going to settle into his new home for now. I know that the chapter was a bit shorter than the others as I want to establish a couple of plot points that are going to come later in the story._

 _For those who are curious, I've decided to make this story more in line with a project I've got coming out sometime early next year. Ace and Flint are two members of the future Jackal Squad since the rest will be coming in the next chapter._ _The names of Zerinn's and Kaito's older siblings are Dune and Oasis. Kaito is seven years old which is the same age as Gadget. Zerinn is ten years old._

 _Now then as you can see we're beginning to see the adoptive brotherhood that's going to spring up in the Illusionary Resistance and in the other project I've mentioned. Kaito was different as a pup here he was less level-headed, but he's still in that innocent, naive state of mind._ _Ten follows already I have to say thank you all so much._

 _Now it's time for the replies, and a sincere thank you to all the people who have taken the time to review._

 _TGN Fate is cruel to Gadget, but don't worry he's going to grow into the character that we see in the Illusionary Resistance, and I'm not the type of person who likes to spoil things for others so you'll have to wait and see what happens._

 _SD321 It was a very satisfying moment for Gadget when he fought back against Chad's group. At that point, he was tired of being tormented by them so he made the decision to fight back and he doesn't regret it._

 _SharpDragon Klaw I know. I feel sorry for Gadget, but things are going to get better for him from here on out._


	5. The rules of the Campsite

If Gadget believed the shade provided by the towering palm fronds would be enough to ward of the blistering early morning heat soon proved him wrong. The sweat slipped through his fur he was already sweating with the hot sun overhead. To his slight irritation, Zerinn and Kaito weren't even affected by the heat. Their ebony black and white fur had no sheen of sweat sitting underneath the palm fronds.

They acted like the heat wasn't even bothering them too much. In fact, the jackals looked perfectly fine. In fact, most of the other residents of Saharais went about their daily business, ignoring the heat, which Gadget figured that they were used to it.

There were a few early risers Gadget noted. Turning his attention towards the rest of the square Gadget noticed a few shopkeepers were leaving their tents to get ready for a new business day. Zerinn and Kaito pushed up from their sitting positions beginning to head in the direction

"Gadget! You need to keep up with us!"

Gadget heard Zerinn's voice. He hurried over to the pair of jackals a loud commotion could be heard coming from one of the tents to his left. An older fox exited his tent holding in his hand an equally skinny young kit upside down by his tail. Cocking back his arm the kit was hurled onto the hard desert ground swiftly hearing the small thud of a knife being thrown onto the sandy ground whimpering in pain.

"And don't come back until ya have money or food! Yer constant whimpering's getting' to me!"

Gadget felt his heart go out to the small kit which ran back tears in his eyes pleading with what Gadget assumed to be his father slamming the door shut in the kit's face ignoring the plaintive whimpering. Gadget took several steps only for Kaito to run in front of him.

"We can't get involved. It's what the grownups do here. It's every pup for themselves."

"That's awful." Gadget breathed in sadness watching the kit scratch at the heavy tent flap risking his Father's wrath begging for water.

Zerinn had stopped as well noticing the scene playing out in front of them all for the kit let out one last whimper before he got to his feet, wiping his hand across his eyes before setting away fingering the small knife he'd stolen setting of a determined expression lined his face.

"That's the way things are in this camp," Zerinn said stoically. "If you're not strong, then you perish. It's just that simple."

Gadget's ears dropped against his skull. He had to wonder if Zerinn thought that he was weak. He pushed the thought down following Kaito and Zerinn. Everywhere he went he saw the same scenario he'd seen with the fox kit play out. Mothers or fathers would push their children outside on the warm desert sands ignoring their pleas.

"Ah, here we are."

Zerinn's voice snapped him out of his ruminations as they'd snuck behind one of the tents a warm, savory smell wafting out of the open tent. The scents of something was cooking, making Gadget's stomach rumble in anticipation the two half-brothers looked around the corner to see if anyone else was coming to steal their breakfast potentially.

"Alright then the coast is clear," Zerinn said smiling at Gadget. "I hope that you have a strong stomach."

"Wait, what do you mean a strong stomach?"

Gadget noticed Kaito smile and pointed to a row of silver gleaming trash cans that stood in a row.

"The best parts of the food are at the top in white bundles!"

Kaito and Zerinn hurried over to the garbage bins knocking off the lids a pungent odor filled the air. The vomit rose up Gadget's throat, causing him to rub a pair of fingers over his throat swallowing the vomit making his way over to the garbage cans.

"Score! I got us some fresh chicken!" Kaito exclaimed, holding up a chicken that looked perfectly fine. Kaito placed his nose, inhaling deeply. "It doesn't smell rotten!"

"Wait so we're not eating trash, then?" Gadget asked cautiously optimistic.

"Heck no!" Zerinn snorted in amusement. "This is a training exercise the adults like to do, to help the next generation learn to fend for ourselves. Freshly cooked meals wrapped up in white bundles are hidden in the trash cans, so the kids who find them first get to eat."

"Oh, so if I find the white bundles of food, it's fine then?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Kaito said. "Just keep an eye out for thieves."

The campsite may have been a peaceful place at first glance, but in reality, a different set of rules were in play. Gadget sorted through the trash his eyesight struggling to pick out the white bundle of food that would ensure him and neither of his two adoptive brothers were going to go hungry tonight.

"Okay, that's enough," Zerinn said smiling. "We've got quite the haul."

Zerinn held onto several white bundles that contained food. Kaito replaced the lids on top of the trashcans the three of them left the alleyway clutching their meal. Gadget knew that his mouth was watering with the smells.

"Okay, here's a good place to stop."

The three of them found a secluded spot to settle down to enjoy their breakfast. A whole chicken, several apricots, several slices of ham and for dessert several honeycombs giving off a sweet smell.

"Dig in then" Zerinn invited Gadget with a smile. "This food won't eat itself."

Gadget took a piece of chicken sinking his teeth into the warm, succulent flesh his tongue, savoring the warm juices dripping down his throat. Zerinn took a bite of the Apricot his teeth sinking into the flesh spitting out the stone. Kaito consumed the honeycomb getting the sticky substance on his mouth and hand.

"You know there's a funny story that happened with Zerinn and a beehive."

Gadget saw the blush of embarrassment creeping up Zerinn's muzzle. There was a story here that a mischievous glint in Kaito's eyes. Kaito swallowed the bite of honey ignoring the frantic gestures from Zerinn telling him to be quiet.

"Well, a few ye—"

"That's enough of that. Here you need to have some protein!"

Zerinn hastily shoved a piece of ham into Kaito's mouth, silencing, him ignoring the glare Kaito shot in his direction. The three of them took their time savoring their bites having decided to save the combs of honey for last when a new voice broke the silence.

"Well, look at this a free meal guys."

The owner of the voice turned out to be a jackal pup slightly bigger than Zerinn that looked well fed, six more jackal pups sunk out from behind him mischievous smiles on their faces in expecting a free meal.

"Back of Dune!" Get your own food!"

Zerinn growled pinning his ears back, taking several strides forward his ears flat back against his head. Zerinn clenched his fists for a fight. Gadget saw the sneer gracing Dune's face looking up his younger brother, his tail swishing from side to side in a sort of restrained excitement.

"Look at this, my followers. My weak, defective runt of a brother thinks that he can stand up to me," Dune snarled. "Have you forgotten that you're speaking to the future leader of the Jackal Squad?"

Several jackal pups made a symbol to ward off the evil eye some of them smirking as they did so. There were a couple who bared their teeth, making low growling noises at Zerinn. The hostility that these pups were displaying seemed a little unwarranted.

"Cursed!"

"Big tail freak!"

"Weak, pathetic runt!"

Zerinn growled trembling with rage at the insults, especially the word weak set his nerves on edge. Kaito came forward, placing a gentle touch on Zerinn's arm. Gadget inhaled making his way towards him a hand on his shoulder as a silent show of support. Zerinn kept his attention trained on Dune his older brother watching his every movement.

"Who is that and why does he hate Zerinn so much?" Gadget asked Kaito.

"Dune is our older brother. He resents Zerinn because he's the oldest he gets to become the next leader of the Jackal Squad," Kaito whispered to Gadget. "Zerinn will do anything to prove to our Father he would make a better leader then Dune ever would."

I'll fight you for it."

"You won't be able to beat me in combat weakling."

With a sudden burst of speed, Zerinn felt the adrenaline building up in his body, and the word weakling allowed him to scream in anger as he made a beeline for Dune who crouched down charging forward to meet him. Dune grabbed his younger brother's tail stomping on it, prompting a yelp from Zerinn. Zerinn growled at himself for showing any form of weakness kicked out at Dune's shin landing a successful hit.

Kaito and Gadget cheered seeing the bigger jackal pup stagger. Zerinn was on his feet, his tail twitching from side to side trying to predict his brother's next move. Dune smirked, taking a step forward feinting left as Zerinn made another run at his brother only for Dune to bend down on one knee, his claws digging into the sand throwing it right into Zerinn's eyes.

Zerinn let out a gasp of pain, dimly aware of a pair of strong hands grabbing him around the shoulders being forced against the hard ground his jaws nearly slammed shut from the impact nearly knocking his teeth lose his hands frantically rubbing at the sand in his eyes when he felt Dune's foul breath in his ear.

"This is the end. Such a shame you have to die like this bro."

Zerinn blinded from the sand did the only thing any trapped jackal found themselves doing. Blindly he lashed out with his teeth; the soft flesh met his tongue, he heard Dune scream in pain as he dragged his teeth through his brother's left ear the metallic tang of blood rushed into his mouth.

Dune's screams of pain rang through the air as Kaito raced forward towards his fighting siblings. Gadget stared horrified at the scene; he was witnessing. Dune scrambled back his left ear sporting several deep gashes in it as Zerinn released his grip on his brother's ear. He sat down, his mouth open, gasping in pain.

Zerinn got the last of the sand out of his eyes. The jackal froze seeing the damage he'd inflicted on Dune's left ear the two of them were panting the silence fell on the area as no one said a word.

"Zerinn are you okay? Dune's ear, he..." Gadget trailed off seeing the blood continuing to trickle down Dune's ear the look of horror on his face.

"M-my ear! Zerinn he bit my ear!" Dune gasped out in shock; his followers began to form a defensive line between Dune and Zerinn their teeth were bared in aggression preventing anyone else from getting closer to Dune.

"What in Chaos is going on here?"

Everyone flinched seeing Cassius make his way standing at the entrance of the alleyway the crimson red short sword hanging in a holster around his waist. His eyes darted over to Dune his eyes widening at the sight of the mangled ear ignoring his son's sobs.

"Stop crying! It's weak." Cassius smacked Dune on the back of his head.

"Zerinn and I were fighting, and he ripped my ear!" Dune howled in anguish. Cassius took several steps forward in Zerinn's direction roughly grabbing his son's mouth, forcing his jaws open hard ignoring his whimpers seeing the blood stains on Zerinn's teeth he closed his son's mouth.

"Zerinn, you need to learn that your actions have consequences," Cassius growled. "Dune and Zerinn, both of you, are to come home at once. No ifs or buts about it."

"Wait! It's not Zerinn's fault."

Gadget protested only to have Kaito kick him in the shin hard silencing him. Both Dune and Zerinn have been led away with the latter looking at them both forlornly following his family members.

"We'll take that!"

Gadget turned around only to see several black and white blurs grab their food running off with it ignoring Kaito's protests. One of the jackals turned around to pull at the corner of his eyelid sticking his tongue out before hurrying to catch up with his cronies.

"That was ours."

Kaito let out a low dejected sigh. It was common for something like this to occur. It was a standard rule in Saharais. When two individuals fought over food, the stronger one was allowed to take the bundle of food.

"We'll have to find some more food," Kaito sighed wearily. "Come on Gadget."

The two of them spent the rest of the morning and afternoon searching through the silver trash cans looking for any scraps of edible food, but much to their disappointment all of the trash cans had been raided leaving both pups to go hungry for the rest of the day.

* * *

Several hours passed it was late evening by the time Gadget, and Kaito arrived back to their tent tired and hungry. And there was still no sign of Zerinn. Gadget and Kaito took turns keeping an ear out for Zerinn having gone hungry. On occasion, they would hear a faint howl of pain coming from the direction of Cassius' tent.

Gadget lay on his back on the makeshift sleeping bag. Kaito immediately went to sleep the second his head hit the pillow, his soft snores filled the air. The tent flap rustled announcing Zerinn's presence. Zerinn limped into their shared abode. His body had several bruises which were hard to see on his ebony fur. A black eye was beginning to form around his left eye. The Jackal looked around dazed, having suffered the punishment his father promised him for mutilating Dune's left ear.

"Dad ordered both of my siblings to attack me, and he tied me down, so I couldn't fight back," Zerinn said by way of explanation to Gadget."I also I had to say that I was weak over and over again. I'm not weak."

Gadget sat up in stunned silence, taking in his adoptive brother's words. Zerinn stumbled slightly before regaining his balance heading towards his sleeping bag aware of Kaito's gasp his hand over his mouth.

"I can help you." Gadget said beginning to sit up. "We'll help you."

Gadget and Kaito hurried over to Zerinn both of them slinging their arms around Zerinn's shoulders helping him walk over to his sleeping bag aiding the older jackal child to settle onto his sleeping bag, the young jackal wrapped his tail across his lap, wincing at the movement.

"Well, I did something stupid," Zerinn said hoarsely, his voice beginning to crack. "I am weak and pathetic."

"You're not weak nor are you pathetic."

Gadget slowly reached out with his left hand rubbing small circles on Zerinn's back in a gesture of comfort. The jackal quietly reached out to him not saying anything burying his head into Gadget's shoulder merely crying in silence. Gadget was holding him close continuing to stroke his back a warm lump gently wrapped his arms around them both with Kaito letting out a low sigh.

Gadget embraced both of half brothers with h, the three of them leaned into each other for they comforted Zerinn late into the night. The wolf knew he would have to be careful since he couldn't shake the feeling things would become worse.

* * *

 _Author's note,_ _First of all, I would like to give a big thank you to SpiderDom321, SharpDragonKlaw, Zerofullbuster and Turquoise Triangle for leaving a review. I genuinely appreciate your support as it motivates me to keep going with this story._

 _Well, this chapter was a fun one to write. Expanding on what the campsite where the Jackal Squad is living in was the most fun part since it may look like a paradise from the outside the harsh reality is that it's everyone for themselves. I headcanon that Zerinn/ Infinite didn't have the best of childhoods and believe me while there are some cute friendship moments in this fic things will get a little darker from here on out._

 _Also and I'm deeply sorry about this. This isn't set in stone yet, but I may be taking a trip, and this might be my only update for the week. I will be gone for a few days or possibly a week, but I promise you the second that my trip is over I will be able to have the next updates to The Illusionary Resistance and the Wolf and the Jackal as soon as I can._

 _A fun little fact about Jackals. A jackal will eat anything and are known to frequent rubbish dumps for food since they are disgusting._

 _Lastly, Thoughts/constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed and appreciated._


	6. Pack of Jackals

Things were uneventful for the next three days. Zerinn was slowly beginning to recover from the beating he'd received at the hands of his family members. His bruises slowly began to fade. It was still painful for Zerinn to move about and he refused to leave the house. It was the sound of arguing voices that caused Gadget's slumber to be disturbed that morning. Gadget let out a low moan of displeasure, his eyes slowly opening. His blurry vision picked up two black and white blobs pacing around their makeshift room.

Gadget reached out for his glasses, placing them on the bridge of his muzzle. The blobs slowly came into focus shifting into Zerinn and Kaito. The wolf had seen enough of their body language to realize that both jackals were tense. Their ears pinned against their skulls; their tails twitched in irritation. The usual jovial expression on Kaito's face was gone, replaced with an anxious expression on his face.

"Come on bro! You haven't left this tent in three days!"

"No, I'm not weak, and I'll kill anyone else who thinks I am."

Zerinn turned on his heel storming past Gadget's sleeping bag slowly sinking on his sleeping bag. He turned on his side with an irritated sigh, his tail drooping over the edge of the bed. Zerinn moved on the sleeping bag, letting his head rest on the hard pillow. Gadget stared at the white stripes on Zerinn's back. He shifted his gaze to the small wooden table his broken grappling hook prototype resting on the table. Someday the wolf vowed to repair it.

Gadget sat up on the sleeping bag, his heart pounding in his chest in fear. He was never good at dealing with tense situations. Here was the thing he wasn't sure if staying here was a good idea as he saw the worried expression on Kaito's face. The younger jackal noticed Gadget was awake turning his attention towards the wolf.

"Bro," Kaito said softly. "Do you want to come with us to go get breakfast?."

Zerinn hmphed turning around facing both Gadget and his younger half-sibling. He let out a low sigh, his sides expanding and shrinking with a deep breath. There was a look of resignation in the jackal's mismatched eyes.

"What so I can go out there so they can stare at me? Stare at my oddly shaped ears, my bigger than normal tail? Or better yet gawk at my freakish mismatched eyes and be subjected to even more whispers?"

Gadget saw the small frustrated tears at the corners of Zerinn's eyes. All his hopes that the jackal would've regained some of his confidence vanished in that instant. Siren raised a hand sniffling ever so slightly, wiping away the tears.

"I was born a freak, and I'll die a freak."

"I don't think that your eyes are freakish," Gadget said, approaching Zerinn placing a gentle hand on Zerinn's side feeling the jackal flinch. "I think that they're unique and you're not a freak."

Gadget saw Zerinn's eyes widen slightly in surprise. The Jackal looked at him, judging him before the smile slowly appeared on his face sitting up.

"Heh, that's the first time that anyone's said something nice about my eyes."

The silence fell over the tent the tense mood vanishing. Kaito hurried over burying his head in Zerinn's shoulder, unknowingly resting a hand on one of his bruises. Zerinn's response to the tender touch was a sharp gasp of pain pushing Kaito away. Zerinn gritted his teeth in pain. It was clear that the Jackal was in pain his breaths came out in short gasps, his eyes were half open. Kaito shrank back concern in his eyes, reaching out to place a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Bro, I didn't mean to hurt you," Kaito said with a whimper. "Please don't be mad at me."

"Zerinn are you okay?" Gadget raced over to where Zerinn was sitting. "Where does it hurt?"

"It's nothing," Zerinn said, wincing slightly. "Sorry for pushing you, Kaito. I'm a little sore right now. Dune kicked me hard a couple of times, as revenge for me nearly biting his ear off."

"I'll be fine," Zerinn said slowly standing up with a forced smile on his face. "Besides sitting around in this tent is boring."

Zerinn got to his feet walking to the door pushing, it open pausing, on the entranceway.

Come on I'm not going to keel over," Zerinn said smiling. "I'm feeling much better now. I don't have all day."

Kaito and Gadget shared a look of concern, but the thing was Zerinn appeared to be in a good mood, and neither Gadget or Kaito wanted to ruin the moment. The small trio left their home with Gadget locking the door. The incident which occurred earlier was soon forgotten. Kaito ran on ahead with his older half-brother not too far behind him.

 _Maybe it's nothing._ Gadget thought to himself. There was a small beacon of hope that if Zerinn was somewhat back to his old self then perhaps things could be looking up for the trio of brothers.

"Hey Gadget the last one to the garbage cans has to lick Dune's dirty feet!"

Kaito's voice carried back to him on the wind as the wolf chuckled breaking into a run chasing after his adoptive brothers. To Gadget it didn't matter if they were jackals and he was a wolf, they treated each other like a family.

* * *

The morning air was hot as the small group had much better luck finding their breakfast. The general mood between the three of them was cheerful. Things appeared to be looking up for the trio at last. Their hands clutched several white bundles of food, keeping an eye out for any thieves. Gadget saw Dune's gang of friends roaming the streets looking lost without their leader to direct them.

A flash of gray fur caught his eye as he spied the skinny gray wolf pup rummaging through the bins his light turquoise eyes were beginning to brim over with tears. The strange thing about the wolf pup was, even though he resembled a wolf his skinny frame his tail had the unmistakable shape of a jackal's tail, and a pair of black stripes were on his sides.

Come to think of it the small gray wolf almost bore some resemblance to his late mother and aunt since he seemed to have their exact eye color. Gadget swallowed past the lump forming in his throat. Kaito noticed the small tears reaching out for Gadget's hand, giving him a gentle squeeze of reassurance along with Zerinn lightly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Zerinn, do you know who that is?"

Zerinn looked over in the direction his large ears pricked taking in the sight of the strange grey wolf casting one last look over his shoulder at Gadget

"That's Mikhail. A friend of Quartz's and he's a hybrid," Zerinn said. "His mother was a wolf, and his father was a jackal. Both of his parents are dead."

Gadget saw Mikhail look around warily as another jackal pup slowly appeared speaking to him in low tones as the two of them turned around, hurrying back to their home the female jackal pup paused to stop gathering up the edges of her dress to prevent it from getting dirty with sand.

"Wait, who is Quartz?" Gadget asked.

"Oh, that's right. Quartz is a friend of ours along with Nephthys, Ace, Saber, and Flint." Zerinn explained the smile was on his face at the mention of the other young jackal's names.

"Yeah, I think it's time that you met them," Kaito's jovial expression was on his face again his tail wagging ever so slightly. "Saber's quiet, but he's a nice guy. Nephthys she's not a girlie girl. Ace and Flint are twins and Quartz can be bossy, but he's like the big brother to everyone else. We usually meet up with them in the southernmost corners of Saharais."

Gadget had a feeling he should've known that Kaito and Zerinn most likely had friends. Gadget felt his heart beating. He followed the two brothers led down several alleyways. Gadget hurried to keep up with them as his sensitive hearing already was picking up voices coming from a small area as they raced through one more alley coming to a shortstop in the middle of a little oasis a few meters away from the campground.

Three other jackal children were playing by themselves as the only female looked up, a small smile spreading on her face at the sight of Zerinn walking into the area with Kaito and a red wolf she'd never seen before. The other two male jackal children looked up small smiles spreading on their faces.

"Hah! I told you that he would pass the trial Saber!" A jackal pup with a red bandana around his neck crowed with excitement. "Pay up!"

"I hate you." The other pup grumbled passing ten Mobiums into the palm of the other jackal's hands.

"There he is!" Nephthys said playfully punching Zerinn on the shoulder. "Good to see you cleared the trail

The other two jackal pups came over to talk with Zerinn who was in his element speaking to Nephthys a jackal with a red beret on his head listening intently. Kaito frowned noticing that two other jackals weren't there.

"Hey, guys do you know where Ace and Flint are?" Kaito asked.

"Both of them are on a mission for the Jackal Squad with your dad," Quatrz replied in a bored tone of voice. "They won't be back until tomorrow night."

"So, what does the Jackal Squad do?" Gadget asked his curiosity piqued.

"Oh, we're like this protection group," Zerinn answered. "You know, keeping the peace and making sure everyone stays safe. That's why this campground exisits to make sure we're properly prepared to help survive out here in the desert."

Gadget couldn't quite shake the nagging feeling that Kaito wasn't telling the full story. He gathered up the bundles of food, making his way over to the jackals seeing the tallest one pocket the money, which were handed off to him making eye contact with the jackal folding his arms.

"So, then you're the little wolf that I hear that was taken in by Zerinn huh?" The older jackal pup tilted his head slightly the small smile gracing his muzzle in a teasing way.

From the corner of his eye Gadget saw Zerinn speaking with Saber the jackal pausing to adjust his beret on his head. Saber had several white stripes running along his arms and legs. There was an earnest look in the young jackal's eyes his tail wagging slightly.

"Yes, I was, and you're Quartz, right?"

The older jackal pup who looked to be thirteen years old smirked. "Yeah, that's me."

Gadget inwardly breathed a sigh of relief wordlessly passing of the bundle to Quartz who turned on his heel. Unlike the other jackals, Gadget saw the splash of white fur with a pair of gray stripes running along the middle of his back.

"Hey, too much pudding! I like him!"

Zerinn felt his fist clench ever so slightly. Saber began to chuckle ever along with Kaito. Gadget still couldn't shake the feeling that there was a story behind Zerinn's nicknames that the other jackals were teasing him ever so slightly.

"Ah, so this is Zerinn's little wolf roommate," Nephthys said, smiling running an eye over Gadget who shrank back slightly from her examination. "You're even cuter than I thought you would be."

Gadget felt the heat creeping up his muzzle. Never in all his life had he ever been called cute. He saw the small smirk on Nephthys' face. From the first impression that he'd gotten off her dressed up in the sleeveless green vest and the torn dark jeans, Nephthys seemed to be a tough girl one that would punch you in the face first and ask questions later.

"R-really? I've uh, never been called cute before."

Nephthys punched him ever so gently on the shoulder taking a couple of steps away from him flashing him a small smile.

"Heh, I'm not one of those girlie girls. So, don't call me that and we'll get along just fine."

So far Gadget's first impressions of Quartz and Nephthys was that Quartz was the big brother of the group lightly teasing everyone else. Nephthys, on the other hand, was someone he didn't want to cross. That left Saber approaching him slowly removing the beret from the top of his head before he placed it back in its resting place.

"Oh, so I take it that you're Saber? I'm Gadget it's nice to meet you."

"Same here."

Saber reached out shaking Gadget's hand before he dropped it quickly backing away from Gadget keeping an almost wary eye on him. Gadget mentally wondered if he'd done something wrong seeing the brief, fearful expression on Saber's face.

"Hey, uh did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to scare you."

"Sorry I'm not good with strangers, and I need time to get to know you first."

That was the thing. Gadget noticed that Saber hurried back to the other jackals and the rest of the jackal pups were moving of each of them taking a bundle of food setting down the white blankets, making a makeshift picnic blanket as there were a variety of meats and fruits along with some nuts.

Kaito noticed that Gadget was looking over at Saber with worry on his face.

"Hey, don't worry about Saber. He was like that with Zerinn and I at first as well."

Kaito spoke up reassuring Gadget's fears that he had done something to offend the jackal as they sat down to enjoy their breakfast. The warmth of the morning sun felt excellent against their backs there was a comfortable silence while the small group ate their lunch until a familiar voice cut through the air.

"Hey machine lover, think ya can spare us some food?"

Gadget tensed. Zerinn curled his lip. They both got to their feet. Chad, Mara, Aster, and Dune stood there with wicked smiles plastered on their faces eying up the picnic of food. As one the other four jackals got up standing in a line in solidarity with their fists clenched in defiance. Dune's left ear had healed, although it bore several gashes in his ear.

"Wait, how did you get out of jail?" Kaito queried. "I thought that our dad locked you guys up!"

"We had a friend in a high place that felt sorry for us and convinced his dad to let us go," Chad sneered. "Besides you owe us one."

Chad nodded to Mara and Aster making a pass around the line of jackals. In the blink of an eye, Nephthys and Quartz broke formation racing towards the pair, and they landed several punches as Mara lashes out at Nephthys ducking at the last moment tripping up Mara causing her to stumble sending her crashing to the ground.

"You little freak!"

"Heh, coming from you that's a compliment."

Quartz easily had pinned Aster down who struggled to get up. Zerinn allowed a smile to grace his face. Gadget was in awe at how quickly both Quartz and Nephthys had been able to deal with Mara and Aster so efficiently that it left him a little shaken in surprise. They were well trained. Zerinn clenches his fists, taking several steps towards Dune who backed down in fear.

"So, then Dune if you're willing to fight me then maybe I'll damage your other ear to match the left one."

Dune's hand automatically shot to his left ear, his claws gingerly tracing over the tears in it. A scowl formed on his lip. He turned to Chad jerking his head in a silent signal that meant attack.

"Uh, wait you want me to fight these guys? There's no way that I'm taking on a bunch of ninja jackals." Chad trembled in fear. Gadget knew that this was his chance to stand up to Chad. He smirked as Kaito fell into step beside him.

"So you're not going to fight me honestly? Even without a ninja jackal at my side?"

Gadget took several steps forward before he broke into a run landing a swift kick on Chad's shin hearing the maned wolf yelp in pain. He made another lunge for Gadget who tripped him as he placed a foot without hesitation on Chad keeping him pinned down as Kaito crouched down to his level with a grin on his face.

"Why you little machine lover," Chad growled. "One day you'll get what's coming to you."

"I'll happily bite your ear off if you even so hurt Gadget."

Kaito curled his lip bearing his teeth ever so slightly. Chad paled ever so slightly seeing those sharp teeth for the first time. It was clear that Kaito was prepared to fight for his older half-brother along with the rest of the jackals who were loyal to their future leader.

Dune simply snarled. His left ear bore the scars of their last encounter his tail twitched. Dune let out a bellow making a beeline for Zerinn for the younger jackal to duck underneath him tripping him up, then landing on his back pinning his arms to his side.

"So, then Dune you know that you're weaker than I am," Zerinn frowned. "I can kill you to make an example of what happens to those who mess with us. You tried to do the same thing with me."

"Fine all of you idiots fall back! It's not worth it."

At Dune's command Zerinn, Nephthys and Quartz allowed their tormentors to wriggle away out from underneath the jackals. Without any hesitation, Mara and Aster broke into a run as Chad turned to face Gadget making a throat-slitting gesture flattening his ears before he broke into a run. Dune shot one last venomous glare at the small group before he broke into a run trailing behind Chad's group.

"That's it! Runaway, you cowards!" "

Quartz high-fiving Nephthys and Saber. The mood was jubilant, and Gadget found himself, letting out a low sigh of relief. He turned on his heel noticing that Saber, Nephthys, and Quartz were looking at him with something akin to respect in their eyes as the small group headed back to their breakfast. Nephthys and Zerinn passed the latter giving Gadget a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Hey, you did good kid," Nephthys said smiling. "I can see why Zerinn and Kaito have taken a liking to you."

"Yeah, you're like an honorary member of the squad now," Zerinn said. "Don't worry about Saber. He'll warm up to you the more he gets to know you."

Gadget walked back to the spot to continue their picnic. Despite the jovial mood, he noticed that Zerinn wasn't eating much and it still looked like he was in pain.

 _I'll have to talk with Kaito about this. Surely after this morning, he must know that there's something wrong with his half-brother._ Gadget thought to himself swallowing the piece of chicken down his throat. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that something was going to go wrong very soon.

The sounds of footsteps echoed against the cobblestones for Chad's group, including Dune, ran around a corner all four of them were panting their hands heavily on their knees as Aster let out a growl. They hated this place. It was far too hot for any of them to be comfortable in this heat. Chad was antsy to leave this place, but he knew that crossing the desert without any water was suicidal.

"You damn idiot! You said nothing about a group of ninja jackals!"

Aster spat on the ground in disgust. Mara said nothing. She slumped her shoulders and the scowl on her face. Mara was in a foul mood. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come on Chad, let's blow this dump," Mara snarled pacing back and forth her gaze fell on Dune. "Look Dune, thanks for breaking us out and Cassius exiled me because I failed the dumb trial in the first place."

Mara folded her arms across her chest. She remembered how she'd begged and pleaded with her parents not to send her to the trial, but her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Mara tried her best to cross the desert in a single night, only to take too long and when the first rays of the morning sun rose over the horizon, Mara barely reached the border of Green Hill. To her dismay, Cassius was already standing informing her that she'd failed her trial and was no longer a member of Saharais.

"Mara and Aster we're leaving."

Dune watched Chad summon Mara and Aster to his side the three of them heading off through the alleyway. Dune hurried after them racing ahead of them holding his arms out to stop them as Chad let out a low growl from the corner of his mouth as Mara and Aster glared at Dune for daring to stand in their way.

"Move it punk. Or do we have to rough you up?"

Dune held his ground looking straight at Chad with amusement in his eyes.

"If you beat me up, I can simply tell my dad on you, and you'll go back to the slammer," Dune grinned. "I have a plan that's going to make all of us happy and leave the machine lover and his friends in tears."

Chad's ears twitched his interest piqued again. Mara and Aster exchanged a look with each other. Deep down Chad was unwilling to let go of the rage he felt towards Gadget. It vexed him to no end that the wolf was happy. No, he wanted Gadget to suffer because he merely was happy now.

"So what did you have in mind?" Chad inquired. "Something painful and humiliating I hope."

Mara and Aster grinned Chad's statement. Dune simply smiled. It had been a good idea to break Chad and his group from out of jail. Sure, it would enrage his father, but Dune was confident that he would be able to wrap his father around his finger. He hadn't failed to notice how close Zerinn and Kaito were. Now if something were to happen to Kaito well, it would bring Zerinn running straight into a carefully planned trap.

"It's simple," Dune said in a quiet voice. "We kidnap Kaito."

* * *

 _Author's note, First of all, I'm sorry that this chapter was late. The last couple of weeks have been crazy, and I didn't get the chance to sit down and work on the next few chapters to both this story and the Illusionary Resistance._

 _Now time for the shout outs saying thanks to SpiderDom321, Turquoise Triangle, Guest, and SharpDragonKlaw. I have to thank you guys so much for the support you have shown for this story._

 _So then we've finally got to meet three of the future members of the Jackal Squad and just giving Quartz, Saber and Nehphtys their personality traits were the most fun part of this chapter I had. It was a challenge since in canon they weren't really given much of a personality, so it's mostly headcanon stuff I have on these guys to fill in the blanks._

 _Also on the note of Zerinn being insecure, it's always been one of my headcanons that Zerinn was insecure a child due to his parents putting him down and calling him weak and having heterochromia didn't help his case because it was likely he was an outcast._

 _Kaito is protective of those he calls his friends and family. I haven't forgotten about Gadget's grappling hook, and it will play a role later on in the story._

 _Well, that's all for now. As per usual feel free to leave any suggestions/ thoughts and reviews, and I'll be back with the next chapter hopefully soon._


	7. Under the cover of Night

_Author's note Here we go this chapter seven and I have to say that thank you so much for over the ten favs and follows. I want to thank all of the people who have shown support for this story._

 _Now to give shout-outs and thank yous for SD321, SharpDragonKlaw, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, Guest, ZeroFullBuster, and GraceKim20 who left reviews to this story. I genuinely appreciate the support for this story._

 _I don't have too much to say about this chapter so without any further delays let's get on into Chapter Seven._

 _Just as a warning there is going to be some violence and blood._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic belongs to Sega._

* * *

After the scorching heat of the day, the cold nighttime air was always a mixed blessing to the residents of the small campground. It was refreshing after the sweltering desert heat they endured during the day, but it would be too cold for them. The residents found warmth in their homes by huddling up under thick blankets and turning on their heaters keeping snug against the harsh elements.

Well, most of the citizens were asleep. Except for a few figures that were up and about determined to put their plan which had been discussed earlier that same day into action. Dune walked down the long hallway his feet shuffling across the sandy floor, making his way to his parent's tent. He pushed the tent flap open hearing; it rustles hoping it wouldn't wake both of his parents up. He stepped into the dark room, the pair of lumps lying in their own sleeping bags. He crept forward on tiptoes making his way to a small wooden chest near the foot of his parent's bed.

"There it is."

Dune pushed the lid open hearing, it creaking in protest. A low moan in the room suggested his father shifted positions in his sleep. Another groan signaled to Dune his stepmother moved closer to his father. He saw the prize awaiting him in the box.

There, nestled against the ebony velvet was his father's prized red short sword. It made Dune sick to his stomach that he would never own such an excellent weapon. He grasped the handle of the sword pulling it out of the velvet closing the lid of the chest with care.

"Sorry, old man," Dune whispered, shooting his father a look of contempt. "I'll prove to you that Zerinn is a poor choice of leader."

He silently left the tent tightly gripping the handle of the sword having put the first stage of his plan into action. The weight of his Father's sword in his hands reminded him it was his birthright to become the leader of the Jackal Squad, a goal that would lead him to become the strongest mercenary in all of Mobius.

"It's time."

Aster left the house carrying Kaito bridal style. A peaceful expression graced the sleeping jackal's face. An ear twitched Kaito letting out a low moan in his sleep shifting suddenly nearly losing his grip on Kaito. The flap to Zerinn's tent already had been pushed back. Dune hurried over to the fennec fox the hilt of his sword gripped between his fingers.

"Heh, he was out cold," Aster giggled shooting the child he was carrying a disdainful look. "Your weak brother didn't do a thing to stop me."

"Never mind that where are Chad and Mara?"

"In there," Aster said gleefully. "They said there was one more thing that they had to take care off."

Dune slipped into the house. He made out the dark form of Zerinn lying fast asleep on his side. Even in his slumber, Zerinn appeared to be in pain. Chad pulled back on Zerinn's matted white hair, jerking his head up slipping a hand, his head, placing his thumb underneath Zerinn's head giving off the impression that he was sucking his thumb.

Mara giggled, pulling back Gadget's blanket balancing a small glass of water in the palm of her hand. She tipped it so slightly letting the bottle of water dribble out of the glass on the sleeping bag giving off the impression Gadget wet himself in his sleep.

"Oh come on playing pranks? We need to go." Dune furiously hissed, grabbing the much bigger maned wolf by the arm attempting to drag him away from Zerinn.

Chad, of course, took offense to the movement. He growled low pushing Dune back, causing the smaller jackal to stumble against the bed. Dune let out a low snarl his mouth parting to say something when he noticed Zerinn beginning to stir. Meanwhile, Aster had taken several steps when Kaito finally stirred began to open his eyes realizing that there was no blanket covering him with the arctic wind hitting his fur.

It felt like someone was carrying him. A foul hot, heavy breath hit the back of his neck. A pair of gold eyes blearily snapped open as Kaito whipped his head around, his gaze meeting Aster's the plump fennec fox was running through the streets burdened down by the weight of Kaito in his arms.

"No, let me go! Zerinn! Gadget help!"

Kaito struggled fiercely forcing Aster to let him go. Immediately Kaito inhaled sucking a deep breath into his lungs, letting out a loud howl. It was loud and annoying. It was a cry for help, and Aster cursed almost dropping the fiercely squirming jackal pup.

"Damn it! Will, you shut up!" Aster shrieked covering his ears with his hands. '

In the heat of the moment, Aster forgot he was carrying Kaito dropping him to the ground, hearing the small thud, as Kaito scrambled to his feet breaking into a frantic run ignoring Aster's furious shouts sprinting across the sandy grounds with the enraged older fennec fox pussuring him.

Saber walking alongside Ace and Flint, having come off guard duty paused in his stride with a pair of taller other jackals pups were walking along the streets late at night with several crudely made street lamps illuminating the vast city carrying several bundles of food wrapped in their arms. It was going to be a late night picnic when the call of a panicked jackal pierced the air.

"Wait is that Kaito?" Saber was alert breaking into a run with the pair of black jackals running alongside him.

"Yeah, that was Kaito," Ace growled. "It's too bad that Quartz and Nephthys are already on guard duty. We really could've used the backup."

There was an unspoken law where if any one of its residents were on guard duty it was strictly against the law for them to leave their posts. Doing so would result in severe consequences. Ace heard his older twin sister Flint chuckle in excitement. He was the younger twin. It was clear to the other members of the future jackal Squad that he was the more dominant one of the twins.

"Yeah, we can handle a bunch of crooks on our own," Flint snorted. "Besides Kaito needs help."

Saber said nothing else leading Fenrir and Hela towards the source of Kaito's desperate howls.

* * *

The sound of the loud cry cuts through the air as Zerinn jerked awake; his mismatched eyes blinked blearily. Gadget jolted awake rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He reached for his glasses coming face to face with Mara grinning nastily at him. He reached out with his right wrist forgetting that it was in a splint he hissed in pain feeling it touch the bed.

"Awwww look at the poor little machine lover wetting the bed."

Gadget looked down as Zerinn shot out of bed, charging straight for Dun who smirked sidestepping out of the way of his brother's assault running out of the house the red short sword strapped to his back.

"Wait a minute, that's Dad's sword," Zerinn breathed out. "Dad is going to kill you."

"Not if I use this sword to kill Kaito first." Dune grinned. In the next instant, Dune ran out through the entranceway vanishing into the night, leaving Chad and Mara to deal with Zerinn and Gadget.

Zerinn let out a low growl of rage pinning his ears back against his skull. Gadget ducked Mara's attempt to grab him for Chad was tripped up by Gadget sending him crashing into Mara. The two of them were entangled in each other, struggling to get up. Gadget heard the two of them cursing at each other as they struggled to rise off the ground.

"Leave them; they're not worth it."

Zerinn broke into a run with Gadget not far behind him. The two of them ran across the cold cobblestones. Gadget looked over to gauge Zerinn's reaction. The jackal's ears were pinned back against his head. his lips set in a grimace one that promised pain and mutilation for Dune the second he caught up to him. The jackal's breath came out in short gasps, his pupils were slightly diluted with pain, but he still pushed himself forward.

"Zerinn how do you know which way that Kaito went?"

A couple of loud howls answered Gadget's question. Zerinn skidded to a stop, his large ears twitching before he turned to his left breaking into a run down an alleyway.

"We're getting close. That fat ball of lard of a coyote didn't get far with Kaito."

Kaito felt Aster's backhand causing him to hit the ground. His eyes were fixed on Aster stomping towards him a grin on his face which promised nothing but pain for daring to howl. Kaito tried to get his hands underneath him to push himself off the ground feeling a heavy foot drive him back down.

"Well, well look at this." Dune's harsh voice echoed out as the jackal walked towards Kaito the short crimson sword held in his hands. Kaito let out a terrified yelp of fear at the madness in Dune's eyes.

"Say goodbye Kaito." Dune slowly walked over to Kaito where a chorus of howls filled the air. The next thing that Kaito saw were three black and white shapes tackling Aster.

"Get your mangy foot of Kaito!"

Kaito paused, seeing the glare appearing on Aster's face lashing out towards Fenrir. The jackal grinned, holding a small dagger in his hands as Hela landed on the other side of Aster. Kaito smiled in relief at his rescuers.

"Behind you."

Aster turned around only to feel a kick connect with his back, knocking him face first to the ground. Kaito felt the foot being lifted up off his back. He could at least breathe, hearing a scream of frustration coming from Dune.

"Saber! Fenrir and Hela!"

Saber turned around to face Kaito holding out a hand helping him up as Fenrir and Hela worked together keeping Aster busy. Dune began to circle them swinging the stolen sword left and right keeping Fenrir and Hela away from him. All four jackals slowly backed away their ears down. Kaito shifted his weight from one foot to the other feeling the tip of the sword resting on the center of his spine.

"One step from any of you and I'll do it."

The threat was clear. Kaito began to tremble. The younger jackal didn't have to turn his head. He knew there was a mad gleam in Dune's eyes. His brain was still trying to process why Dune his flesh and blood wanted actually to hurt him. The steel tip slowly being moved and a black and white blur tore across the desert ground along with a red blur which made a beeline straight for Aster tackling him across his midsection.

"Gadget and Zerinn!"

Saber saw Dune glower unwrapping his arm, letting Kaito go turning to face Zerinn. The silence fell between the two brothers. Kaito ran back to Zerinn feeling his older half-brother hug him gently.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Kaito whimpered turning around to show Zerinn the tiny cut on his back, which the blood welling ever so slightly on the surface of fur and skin.

"How dare you!" Zerinn hissed. He lunged out, grabbing Dune's wrist as he gripped it tightly, hearing his brother's yells for him to unhand him. No, he wasn't going to let go this time. All of his life ever since they were little kids even younger than Gadget and Kaito were now. Dune always had pushed Zerinn away, mocked him, put him down and called him weak.

Zerinn decided in that moment enough was enough. Dune had always made him feel weak. He hated that feeling of being weak, and it was his biggest desire to wipe the grin from his brother's face.

"Oh come on is the future leader too scared to fight me?" Dune mocked Zerinn. "You're such a weak leader."

"That's it Dune! Now you're dead!"

Gadget stared in horror as before anyone could stop Zerinn running over to Dune in one lightning quick movement swung the sword down in a full arc slicing down the right side of Zerinn's face through fur and skin. The gush of blood shot up into the air, followed by a piercing scream as Zerinn crashed down to the ground rolling onto his back laying there panting for breath, the gush of blood staining the right side of his muzzle red.

Kaito screamed in pure horror running over to where his brother lay ripping off his glove placing it on the new facial wound. Zerinn moaned reaching up with a hand to press down on the wound his glove becoming saturated with blood.

"Let's get out of here!" Aster broke into a run nearly jostling Dune who stood staring down at the short crimson sword the blood dripping off the edge of the sword before he turned on his heel following Aster into the night.

"Cowards! I'll kill you!"

Hela prepared to break into a run before a gasp came from Gadget who was kneeling down at Zerinn's side, ripping off his gloves, pressing it down against the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Zerinn? Are you alright?" Gadget asked mentally cursing himself. "Zerinn hang in there. Where does it hurt?"

"Gadget, my face

He lay flat on his back in pain. To Zerinn it felt like half of his face had been sliced wide open. Kaito ran over to Zerinn gently picking up his hand. Gadget kept the pressure on Zerinn's wound dimly aware of Hela taking off her left glove placing it onto the newly formed scar. The glove immediately saturated with blood.

"You idiot. You should've told us that you thought Dune would pull a stunt like this," Flint snarled. "Don't even say that you thought it was a weakness if something was wrong with you."

"I just didn't want Kaito or Gadget to worry," Zerinn mumbled his eyes were beginning to close. "I wanted to make Dune pay for what he did."

Saber frowned reaching over to press a hand lightly against Zerinn's stomach hearing a sharp gasp of pain. Saber put his hand on Zerinn's forehead, seeing the sweat dotting his brow; his lungs were pulling hard.

"Zerinn has a fever, and I'll need all of you to stay with him," Saber said matter-of-factly. "My parents are doctors they'll know what to do."

With that Saber broke into a run heading to the eastern the sound of his footsteps echoed off the dusty ground. Kaito let out a low whimper feeling Zerinn squeezed his hand in reassurance. Gadget kept the pressure on Zerinn's new injury. He felt the sting of tears at the corners of his eyes. It felt like a long agonizing wait for help to arrive. A silence fell over the area and eventually the silence broke by the sounds of running feet after several minutes after what felt like hours Saber returned with a maned wolf and a jackal that between them were holding a stretcher.

"Okay, we'll have to take him to the medical tent right away," The maned wolf spoke with a look of anxiety on her face. "Oh, Chaos, that's Cassius' kid, isn't it?"

Zerinn was lifted onto the makeshift stretcher. Gadget and Flint removed their blood-soaked gloves, which Gadget shuddered casting his bloodstained glove to the ground.

"I'll be okay Kaito I promise," Zerinn said weakly. "Stay with Gadget in the meantime, okay?"

Kaito nodded. Zerinn let out a low moan of pain before he was carried away by the anxious medics heading in the direction of the medical tent. Kaito, Gadget Saber, Ace, and Flint stared after the sight in sorrow, seeing their future leader being carried away unable to do a thing to help him.

"Oh no, this was all my fault. If I hadn't gotten caught, then Zerinn would be fine." Kaito whimpered beginning to cry.

"He'll be fine, he's strong," Gadget said, feeling a few tears slip down his face. "He's not weak."

Gadget felt sick. The wolf knew that Zerinn wanted to make sure his younger half-brother would be safe. Saber, Fenrir, and Hela came closer to him as they were all worried for Zerinn and the best thing that they could do for now was to comfort Kaito.

Kaito continued to cry in silence, feeling the warmth of Gadget's fur pressed against him. It was all his fault. He was so sorry that something like this had happened to Zerinn. Kaito quietly closed his eyes just wishing that this was all a bad dream, and he wanted it to be over so badly.

* * *

 _Author's note. I am going to admit it that this chapter was a bit darker than the others. Oh boy, I didn't want to do that to Zerinn, but I headcanon that he got his scar at a young age and this felt like the right point to do it. It's implied in the Rise of Infinite Comic that injury's been there for a long time._

 _Well, Fenrir and Hela the last two members of the Jackal Squad make their debut here at last. We're going to see more of them in the future. They are in training as scouts, and they're already very good at scouting out any threats. Saber is in preparation to be the medic of the Jackal Squad._

 _I tried to make Zerinn's appendicitis as factual as much as possible. In rare cases, blunt force trauma to the abdomen can cause appendicitis. I also added in some of the common symptoms of it such as vomiting, the abdominal pain and the loss of appetite._

 _Dune is a very ambitious jackal. He craved the leadership position and was furious when his father passed over him choosing Zerinn instead. The reason that he wasn't picked to be the leader was that he is too reckless and doesn't care at all about the safety of his teammates._

 _In broken friendship, Chad was the one to give Zerinn his scar. Here I picked Dune because when he scarred Zerinn, that was him letting out his resentment towards his younger brother. Dune knew that if Kaito were in danger, it would bring Zerinn running. He was hoping to kill two birds with one stone._

 _I don't have too much to say about this chapter since that all I can say is that things are going to get rougher for Gadget, Kaito, and Zerinn in the next update._

 _As per usual Suggestions/ Thoughts and reviews are appreciated. I will talk to you guys soon with the next chapter._


	8. Forged bonds

The mood was somber for the small group heading back to Cassius' tent. No one was in a mood to talk after what happened to Zerinn. The silence stretched long and awkward. Gadget kept his uninjured arm draped lightly across Kaito's shoulders. The young jackal pup's eyes were red and puffy from crying so much. Fenrir, Hela, and Saber followed the small band having volunteered to escort Kaito back to their tent.

"We don't want those guys to get the jump on you again," Saber muttered. "Zerinn will be okay."

Ace walked on Kaito's right side. A small dagger was drawn the jackal's eyes darting about looking for any more signs of danger. The last thing that Kaito needed was anything else to happen. Gadget wondered if he was regretting living here in the campgrounds where the weak perished and the strong thrived. Gadget remembered the few letters his mother received from her sister in Sunset Heights.

His Aunt's letters made it sound like that Sunset Heights was a beautiful place to live, but his mother hadn't agreed with his Aunt's letters. Gadget recalled that his parents argued over it with his mother stubbornly refusing to move there since she claimed the education system wouldn't be suitable for Gadget's studies.

"I hate this place," Kaito said harshly. "I wish we didn't have to live here."

Gadget turned to face Kaito making a small 'o' of surprise with his mouth at Kaito's words. Kaito kept his ears down looking at his surroundings with disdain. It was clear that Kaito thought that the events which occurred tonight were his fault. The guilt ate away at Kaito's heart with the knowledge Zerinn lay in a hospital bed teetering on the verge of life and death. The young jackal fiddled with the edge of the green bandana tied around his ears in a gesture of nervousness.

"Gadget is Zerinn going to die?"

Gadget's breath hitched in his throat at the unexpected question. The thought of Zerinn dying crossed his mind. The jackal lay so still his breath coming out in short gasps the blood welling down from his face. Gadget looked at his naked hand. Without the protective white glove to protect it from the elements, it was cold. Gadget shuddered at the memory of the blood-soaked glove lying abandoned in the middle of the street.

"He'll be fine. I'm sure of it." Gadget replied uncertainly.

"What a night."

Gadget looked over to the speaker a young male jackal with his hands held behind his head. It seemed a little insensitive how this jackal could be so relaxed after what happened concerning Zerinn. Flint, on the other, looked around the area in case either Chad's group made another attempt to

"So you're Gadget. You're the new brother that Zerinn and Kaito have adopted," Flint held out his hand to shake. "I'm Flint and sorry we didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves to you earlier." Ace paused approaching Gadget with a relaxed expression on his face.

"Hey, I'm Ace, and unlike my nosy twin brother, I'm the more calm and level head of the two of us."

"It's nice to meet you both." Gadget replied. Perhaps he could be friends with these two. Nephthys and Quartz seemed to have taken a liking to him. Saber, on the other hand, was an enigma.

In the hopes that they would arrive back into the jackal family's area unnoticed faded in an instant upon hearing the sounds of an argument was spiraling out of control. Silently the small group ran into the jackal family's sleeping area just in time to see Cassius grabbing the hilt of the sword yanking it away yelling something at Dune who folded his ears back in submission.

"Do you think that I wouldn't have noticed that you snuck into my tent and stole our family heirloom?"

Dune trembled under the glare of his father. He saw Sera appear out of the doorway with Oasis her face set into a small frown.

"You're an incompetent old fool choosing Zerinn," Dune muttered moodily. "And I don't know where the hell Kaito and Gadget are." Dune protested as Gadget stepped into the shaft of light an arm around Kaito protecting him and acting as emotional support for what was about to come next.

"And where the hell is Zerinn?" Cassius growled. " I warned him that would be consequences if I caught him running out in the middle of the night."

The emotional strain was too much for Kaito who broke down in tears. "Zerinn's dying. He said that there was something wrong with his stomach and now he's going to die!"

Cassius' eyes widened in shock. He quickly walked over, grabbing Kaito by the wrist, making sure to slap him hard across the side of the head.

"Stop sniveling," Cassius growled."I've told you that its weak behavior and I would not have it in this household."

Cassius turned to Hela walking towards him the tense frown was on her face. The younger jackal held her ground defiantly staring at Cassius.

"Kaito is telling the truth," Flint said, explaining the situation to Cassius who tightened his jaw. His eyes widened in slight horror shooting a proud look at Dune who hung his head his mangled ear hanging downwards.

"Well, look at that. You took this sword and scarred someone in your first fight with it," Cassius smiled. "Maybe you do have what it takes to be a leader after all." Cassius paused looking around at his audience.

"Perhaps you do have what it takes to become the next leader of the Jackal Squad."

Dune looked up shock flashing across his features, his brain struggling to process his father's words. For the first time, he saw pride in his father's eyes. There was a crestfallen expression on Kaito's face. Gadget looked up as the three other jackal pups glared at Dune.

"Gadget and Kaito. We'll go to visit Zerinn if he's not dead yet," Cassius said coldly. "Oh for Chaos' sake Kaito stop crying!"

Cassius walked by slapping Kaito on the back of his head for the second time prompting a whimper.

Cassius walked away not even looking back at Kaito. Gadget gave Kaito a gentle squeeze on the shoulder in comfort. In response, the jackal quietly rested his head on Gadget's shoulder; his eyes were half open with exhaustion stifling a yawn. Gadget was exhausted. With Zerinn in the medical center, he felt like it was his responsibility to keep Kaito safe in Zerinn's place.

"Gadget Dune can't be the leader of the Jackal Squad," Kaito whispered. "He cares for no one, but himself."

Gadget nodded in agreement. The wolf saw the dark expression of glee appearing on the young jackal's face when his father named him the leader of the Jackal Squad. He looked back to see Dune grinning shooting a triumphant look at the sad expressions on Saber, Hela's and Fenrir's face. Oasis raced over to congratulate her brother by throwing her arms around him hugging him close.

"He's a bully, and he could endanger the whole Squad one day." Gadget whispered to Kaito keeping an eye on Cassius' back. The older jackal gave no sign of having heard them. The walk through the near-vacant streets was in silence. Cassius led them to the eastern sector of Saharais where the only children's hospital in town was.

An hour later the trio arrived at the sizeable makeshift hospital on the outskirts of the campgrounds. The smell of the anesthetic was heavy in the air. The floors were pristine white. Behind the receptionist's desk, a coyote nurse sat behind it with her nose buried in the newspaper. On the front page, an image of Sonic and Tails stood in front of the Tornado. Sonic flashed a surefire smile an arm draped around a smiling Tails.

Eggman eludes capture! Authorities baffled at mad scientist's disappearance. The headlines blared out as the coyote turned a page of her newspaper seemingly uninterested in her surroundings.

World famous hero Sonic vows to bring Eggman to justice. Sonic announced that he and Miles Tails Prower are heading off to investigate rumors of a mysterious floating island in the sky tomorrow.

"Excuse me!"

The coyote nurse jumped up in alarm at the sound of Cassius's voice. She noticed the irate jackal glaring at her displeased with her lack of attention. The doors opened as a slightly plump magenta wolf came through the doors her eyes were trained on the scarred jackal making eye contact. She straightened her back locking eyes with Cassius showing that she wasn't afraid of the battle-scarred jackal.

"Oh Mr. Cassius, your son will live," The nurse with a name tag that read Lilac said flatly. "I'll admit it was touch and go for a while, but I will say

Kaito let out a cry of happiness. Gadget sighed in relief. Zerinn was going to be okay. His brother would live. Cassius grunted in annoyance.

"What about the large scar on the right side of his face?"

The nurse shot Cassius a glare. She'd heard rumors about the leader of the Jackal Squad. For sure Cassius was a competent fighter. He made his living as a mercenary, but she heard through the grapevine that he was way too hard on his kids and two of his sons were known to brawl in the streets often leaving small wounds on each other. She'd been horrified when she had seen the bleeding gash inflicted on Zerinn.

"I'm going to be blunt, he's going to have a scar there for the rest of his life," Lilac replied sadly. "He also lost a lot of blood, so we had to give him a blood transfusion."

The nurse's words hit Gadget hard. Zerinn would bear the scar on the right side of his face for the rest of his life. He could only imagine how the young jackal would feel about his new facial wound. Zerinn was already insecure about his heterochromia, and the scar would be one more new thing for the residents to gawk at him even more.

"Can we see him?" Gadget blurted out blushing in embarrassment.

"I'm afraid, not just yet," The nurse replied kindly with a small smile. "He is awake, but he's kind of cranky at the moment."

"Which room is he in?"

The nurse blinked once in surprise, realizing that Cassius was talking to her. His left hand was resting on the hilt of the short crimson sword. The coyote nurse's eyes darted to the sword swallowing nervously.

"You can't bring that weapon into this medical tent. You'll have to leave it behind the desk."

Cassius growled stalking over the desk, seeing the nurse tremble before he removed his blade slipping it off his shoulders handing it over to the coyote who took it with shaking hands trying hard not to stare at the dried blood and tufts of black fur stuck on it.

"Room 17 in the children's ward on the first floor," The Nurse said. "Cassius, your son, isn't well enough to have visitors at this time."

Cassius chose to ignore her. He ushered both Kaito and Gadget in front of him. Lilac attempted to step in front of him; her arms were held out in a full arc blocking their progress a look of defiance on her face.

"Cassius I don't care if you're the leader of the Jackal Squad," Lilac snarled. "I will repeat myself if I have to; your son is not well enough to have visitors at this time."

A small alarm went off at the nurses' desk. The coyote nurse leaned forward pressing a finger down on top of the button. "It's our little patient in room 17. He's trying to do a runner."

Lilac muttered something underneath her breath breaking into a run. A dingo nurse followed her with Cassius, Kaito and Gadget bringing up the rear. The nurses led them to room seventeen throwing open the door. Zerinn yanked the two pair of tubes out his arm. His body turned sideways attempting to slip out of bed; his shoeless feet touched the soft carpeted floor.

Bandages covered the right side of his face. The sight made both Gadget and Kaito stop and stared seeing their adoptive brother struggling to maintain his balance his legs shaking from the effort to stand up after having his injury treated.

"You need to stay in bed young man!"

The nurses darted forward, grabbing Zerinn around his shoulders and legs, carefully picking him up. The ignored the kicks Zerinn dealt out before he was wrestled back into the bed the tubes were reinserted leaving Zerinn in a huff his arms folded across his chest.

"Your family members and friend are here to see you," Lilac said shooting them a stern look. "Five minutes. He does need to rest."

Lilac stayed with them. Kaito was the first one to race over to Zerinn wagging his tail in happiness settling in the small wooden chair next to the bed taking Zerinn's hand in his own.

I'm sorry," Kaito muttered lifting his head showing his red puffy eyes. "I should've been more alert."

"Don't worry about it Kaito," Zerinn mumbled. "It was all Dune's fault. Can you stay strong for me and don't quit?"

"I promise big bro," Kaito nodded his head eagerly. "I will stay strong for you."

Kaito smiled seeing his half brother's gloveless hand reach out to him gently squeezing his hand in a gesture of comfort. The gesture seemed to reassure Kaito. The two jackal brothers sat together in silence for a couple of minutes before Cassius cleared his throat in impatience. Kaito slid off the seat shooting a sad look.

Cassius sat down on the seat hearing it creak slightly under his father's weight. Gadget watched father and son. The tension in the room grew tenfold with both jackals glaring at each other. Cassius saw Zerinn's fist clench slightly.

"I've decided that Dune is more suited to the position of leader for the future of the Jackal Squad."

Zerinn said nothing expect he flattened his ears in submission. The jackal dug his claws into the sheets. Gadget saw the look of disappointment in the jackal's eyes — the single tear slipping down Zerinn's face. Gadget's heart went out to Zerinn. The news crushed the young jackal emotionally.

"You'll still be in the squad, but you will have to learn to be a follower," Cassius said finality in his voice. "You're a weak disgrace in my eyes."

Cassius pushed back the chair. The jackal briefly nodded at the nurse walking out of the room without even a backward glance at his son. Gadget took it as his chance to slip into the chair. Kaito came back to stand at his brother's bedside placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"You're not weak," Gadget said fiercely. "Don't listen to your dad. You're one of the strongest jackals, I know."

Zerinn allowed a small smile to appear wiping away the tears on his face. He looked over at Kaito and Gadget. His younger half-brother was staring at him the smile he reached forward for his half brother's ungloved hand rubbing small circles of comfort the smooth short fur.

The red wolf placed a hand on Kaito's shoulder, squeezing it in comfort.

 _Is this the same wolf that I met at Green Hill Zone?_

"I'll look after Kaito until you get out of the hospital, I promise." Gadget said his decision made."I think that we're friends."

Zerinn shifted on the bed moving his right hand out from underneath the sheets holding it out in the shape of a fist bump.

"We are friends," Zerinn said, smiling."This gesture is a symbol of greeting within the Jackal Squad."

Gadget smiled, returning the fist bump along with Kaito. There were smiles on their faces when Lilac informed them that they had to leave the room so Zerinn could rest.

Cassius was already waiting outside the medical center having reclaimed his sword from the shaking coyote nurse. He stalked ahead of Kaito and Gadget. Kaito was half awake now leaning on Gadget the two of them had smiles on their faces. Kaito looked up at the pre-dawn skies suddenly letting out a gasp pointing upwards with his finger towards the sky.

"Gadget look up! That star up, there's so brighter than the others!"

Gadget followed Kaito's pointing finger. Right there, nestled amongst the deepening blue skies, he saw the brightest star shining down. It was like a pure white beacon of hope against the sky. Gadget smiled. It had taken a while, but it appeared that the star finally decided to hear his wish giving him a friend in the form of Zerinn. The wolf's heart swelled with happiness.

"Thank you," Gadget whispered. "Thank you for giving me a friend."

The two of them heard Cassius' impatient call telling them both to keep. Gadget obeyed hurrying on ahead with Kaito at his side. High in the sky, the brightest star continued to glow.

When they arrived home Kaito and Gadget flopped on their makeshift beds were worn out from the night's events. Both of them finally fell into a restful slumber content with the knowledge that their friend and brother was safe and would be back home amongst his friend and the only family member who cared for him.

* * *

 _Author's note There we go the moment where Gadget and Zerinn finally become friends. After the events of the last chapter, it was always my intention to end this chapter on a feel-good note, and I haven't forgotten about Mikhail. He'll have a role to play soon._

 _I hope that people enjoyed this chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. I wanted to have a nod to Sonic 3 and Knuckles. With Sonic and Tails planning to set off for Angel Island. I do have plans for Sonic and Tails to make an appearance later on in the story._

 _Sol and Luna are the names of Gadget's parents since I wasn't going to go on and not give them names. They are Latin for sun and moon._

 _Cassius may be the leader of the Jackal Squad which is a pretty high station of power within Saharais, so he's like one of the towns' leaders. Cassius uses that status to throw his weight around which is the main reason that Dune wants to be the leader of the Jackal Squad so badly so he can do the same thing._

 _This story isn't going to be as long as the Illusionary Resistance is since I don't see it being longer than twenty- four chapters._

 _As per usual thoughts/suggestions/ Reviews are welcome and appreciated. I will be back to talk to you guys soon with the next chapter._


	9. Reunion

The warmth of the early morning sun gently crept in through the thin slats the tent, in response to the light Gadget began to stir ever slightly while he was in his sleeping bag. The wolf let out a low moan hearing a distinct thud followed by a snarl of disappointment prompting the wolf to awaken. He yawned tiredly rubbing his eyes. Upon awakening, he noticed Kaito was out of his sleeping bag.

The wolf turned his head his attention drawn to Zerinn's empty sleeping bag. Gadget paused looking at the several small black hairs on the sheets. The absence of zerinn felt odd, without the oldest jackal living in the tent neither he or Kaito even felt

 _Man, where is Kaito? I hope that he's not in any trouble again._ Gadget thought to himself.

A clattering of dishes alarmed Gadget. The wolf wriggled out of his sleeping bag seeing a pair of white bundles containing food indicated Kaito went looting through the bins in the desert streets. It was something that the young jackal never did before on his own. Gadget made his way across to where Kaito stood outside pacing back and forth near a palm tree armed with a small sling throwing a small rock into the palm fronds aiming for the coconuts hanging off the tips of the branches.

If that happened, he would've broken his promise to Zerinn. Gadget shuddered. He didn't want to imagine the jackal coming home and finding his younger half-sibling injured.

"Kaito!"

Gadget was wide awake now hurried over to Kaito knocking him out of the way of the falling coconut hearing it making a soft thud in the ground. Gadget sighed in relief Kaito was injured until he felt the little jackal

"Leave it Gadget!" Kaito snarled folding his ears back. Gadget noticed the young jackal's eyes looked less bloodshot than before; there were still faint tear streaks on his muzzle.

"No. You're going to injure yourself," Gadget replied firmly. "I know it's hard that Zerinn's not here, but he doesn't want you to get hurt in his absence."

Kaito fell silent upon hearing Gadget's words. The tension on Kaito's face gave a clue to his current mental state. Kaito was more lively and cheerful, but after what happened to Zerinn Kaito was sullen, his lip curled up in a scowl. Focusing all of his attention on picking up the coconut choosing not to speak a word to Gadget. Kaito hurried over to his sleeping bag curling his tail around him. The jackal pup was the picture of despair his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Kaito, what's wrong?" Gadget asked softly. "I know I"m not Zerinn. Please let me help you."

Kaito inhaled raising a hand shakily wiping away the tears from his eyes. Yellow eyes met Gadget's amber eyes his tail twitched slightly. The young jackal didn't know how to deal with the aching pain in his heart. He should've known Dune would've pulled off something like this. His heart broke from the fact Zerinn, the only family member who cared about him almost died.

"It's my fault," Kaito whispered. "When we were walking back home, Dad took me aside and told me it was all my fault that Zerinn got hurt. He told me that I was too weak to stand on my own otherwise he would leave me out there in the desert."

The wolf's fingers tensed unintentionally on Kaito's shoulder. The jackal pup lifted his head seeing the wolf's bright crimson fur paling his mouth agape in horror. The wolf knew Cassius could be cruel, but to abandon his son in the harsh desert with no food or water?

"It wasn't your fault Kaito," Gadget spoke in a reassuring tone. "If anyone's to blame, it's your poopy head of a brother."

The small giggle coming from the direction of Kaito indicated he'd liked the insult aimed at Dune. The Jackal smiled his eyes slightly still bright with tears his tail wagging somewhat faster the scowl fading away to the usual small smile on the jackal's muzzle.

"Yeah Dune's a poopy head."

A warm body crashed into Gadget. The small gentle sobs were leaking out from underneath Kaito's eyes. Gadget leaned into Kaito drawing the young jackal close to him rubbing his back letting Kaito softly sob into his shoulder. The wolf told Kaito that by rubbing his back was something his mother used to do whenever Gadget was upset about something.

The wolf wondered if Kaito would ever be the same again. Their brief hug was interrupted by the sound of voices speaking in low tones outside the tent followed by another

"Yo!" Quartz's voice boomed. "Kaito we heard about what happened from Saber!"

Several more voices joined in with Quartz's statement. Gadget got off the sofa with Kaito hurrying over to the door. The door opened revealing Quartz and Nephthys standing there. Nephthys inhaled the faint damp odor of mold her nose a small frown lining her muzzle.

"Did you guys know that Dune's the new leader now guys?" Kaito asked dejectedly.

"Yeah, we do," Quartz had sneered. "Dune wouldn't stop bragging about it, so I smacked him. The little bastard ran inside to your dad's house and said that bad things were going to happen to me."

Nephthys held a hand over her nose unsubtly hiding her grimace at the musty smell in the tent where the two jackal half-siblings lived along with Gadget. The look of displeasure on her face said it all.

"Even without Zerinn here you guys have been living like pigs," Nephthys swept into the room. "Come on let's give this place a good clean."

Even Gadget knew arguing with Nephthys was out of the question. The four of them resumed the task of cleaning up the tent to make it more livable

"We bumped into Ace, Flint, Mikhail, and Saber on the way here," Nephthys said, "They'll be here soon bringing some food ."

The four of them set to work cleaning up the tent with Quartz removing any discarded pieces of rubbish picking them up of the floor placing them in an old worn sack before dragging it outside looking for a suitable location to dispose of the waste.

"Don't dust off with your tail this time Kaito!" Nephthys called out. That's what the towels are for."

"Man poor Zerinn," Mikhail said softly. "To have a scar on his face. I can only imagine how painful that must've been."

Gadget shuddered, having Zerinn's blood on his hands, the low whimpers of pain coming from Zerinn. The way that he lay in agony from his ruptured appendix. The gentle hand squeeze Zerinn gave to Kaito to reassure him that he was going to be okay. The sobs of Kaito who believed that his own older brother lay dying at his own feet.

"So Mikhail what happened to your parents?" Gadget queried. "I mean one of them was a wolf right?"

Mikhail paused in his cleaning. There was a tense frown on his face. There was something in the wolf jackal's hybrid eyes. Mikhail almost resembled his mother exactly. Mikhail had the same expression on his face whenever she was worried. He turned his attention fiddling with the tea towel in his hands.

"Well she was a wolf, and I know who my dad was a jackal," Mikhail replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "All Quartz's mother would say about him is that he's an alcoholic deadbeat."

"When Mikhail's mother became pregnant with Mikhail, she wanted to marry him so their child wouldn't be born out of wedlock," Quartz sneered. "The asshole dumped his mother, refusing to be a man and take responsibility for his actions," Quartz added in placing an arm around Mikhail's shoulder. "When Mikhail was born his father dumped him on my family."

Gadget saw the brief uncomfortable expression on Mikhail's face. He aimed his anger at Mikhail's irresponsible father, and a lingering suspicion took root in his mind. There was no way that Mikhail could be related to him could he?

The two of them worked in a slightly uncomfortable silence between them. Gadget noticed that Ace was flirting with Nephthys. To the wolf's surprise, he heard the low giggle come from her before she gave him a playful shove telling him to get back to work. An hour later Gadget wiped away the last of the dusty surface. Quartz stood to place both hands on his back hearing his spine crack. The tent no longer smelled musty a sweet spring breeze floated in airing out the tent.

"Well at least beehive's coming back to a nice clean tent," Quartz said smiling. "It wouldn't be the same without his presence here."

Gadget's ears twitched at the word beehive. It was an odd nickname to give someone, and the wolf couldn't keep his curiosity at bay for much longer.

"Why do you guys call Zerinn Beehive?" Gadget asked out of curiosity.

"No it's not beehive it's too much pudding!" Flint called out. "Come on Quartz tell the story!"

Quartz slowly sank down onto the dusty floor with Nephthys coming to sit on his left, and Ace sat on his right. Gadget and Mikhail sat down next to each other with Kaito and Saber sat next to each other. The older jackal savored the moment now that he'd an audience.

"Okay Gadget, what I'm about to tell you don't reach Zerinn's ears okay?" Quartz said. "He's still a little annoyed about it. Also, I'll be happy to let Saber and Kaito tell their parts of the story since they were there too."

"I won't." Gadget replied honestly. Mikhail sat next to him his hands folded in his lap.

"Alright then three years ago Kaito was about to turn five years old, and Zerinn wanted to get him some chocolate for his birthday," Quartz began. "However the only place to get the big bars of chocolate was kept in a cool box guarded by the cranky old vixen who runs the sweet shop, back in our home village."

A small bout of laughter filled the room.

"So then Zerinn took me, Kaito and Saber along with him. He makes us wait outside to keep an eye out for the vixen; then he jumps the fence. Zerinn made his way to the icebox and stole three big bars of chocolate," Quartz said. "However, Zerinn soon realized he couldn't jump the fence with a heavy bag of chocolate."

"So Zerinn threw the bag over the fence, and he sprinted towards the fence with the intention to jump over the fence," Saber took over the story. "What none of us knew at the time there was a nearly dead beehive that was right next to his foot."

"Zerinn accidentally stepped on the beehive getting stung several times in the process," Kaito joined in smiling slightly. "My half-brother got stung five times before he violated the fence making a mad dash for the nearest local river, due to being stung he couldn't sit for a week. That's why we call him beehive."

At the conclusion of the story, there were a few lighthearted sniggers. Mikhail let out a few loose giggles as Gadget chuckled slightly.

"Seriously Gadget don't tell Zerinn that I told you about it," Quartz said warily. "He'd have my head if you did."

"I won't." Gadget replied.

Gadget could feel Mikhail's fingers briefly brushing against his own pressing something into his hand shifting his gaze away.

Gadget wanted to ask Mikhail what he'd given him before Nephthys announced they'd done enough lazing about and it was time to get back to work.

The red wolf rose to his feet slowly his mind pondering over the strangeness of Mikhail's actions. Gadget didn't have the opportunity to ask more about Mikhail's past before Saber tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Come on Gadget I'll show you our lookout post."

Gadget remembered the first time he'd seen a couple of the guards keeping an eye out for danger on the first day he arrived in the mercenary's camping grounds.

"Being, a guard here is a lot of responsibility," Saber informed Gadget.

"Yeah, it is."

The wolf noticed the pair of jackal archers walking along the ground their fingers clenched around their bows ready to let loose with an arrow the second they spotted a potential threat. Gadget followed Saber briefly nodded gesturing to a small bronze bell sitting between the archers.

"That bell is our alarm system."

"That's quite the alarm system," Gadget said in wonder. "Have you guys ever had to ring it?"

"Yes they do, and we should move on soon," Saber replied. "The guards don't like having civilians up around here for too long; you don't want to get shot by any wayward arrows."

The wolf looked over seeing the distrustful expressions on the guard's faces before they walked away from the outpost, seeing the guard's shoulders relaxing, relieved they wouldn't accidentally be injuring anyone who would be foolish enough to step in front of them when they would let loose with an arrow.

Several hours passed since Gadget's tour of the guard outposts, by the time he and Saber Quartz, Ace, Flint, and Mikhail were about to head home as Saber helped Gadget move the tent flap back into place before Saber went back to his home as well.

Kaito and Gadget sat outside their tent feeling the warm breeze of the evening desert heat. After the long day both of them were eager to rest

"Are you feeling better Kaito?"

"Yeah, I am and thanks, Gadget., Kaito said tiredly. "You're a good adoptive brother." Kaito stifled the yawn leaning tiredly against Gadget. The duo sat on the stone steps listening to the evening chorus of the crickets in the distance. The silence felt nice, and the wolf looked down at the small torn photo in his hands.

 _Why did Mikhail give this to me?_

The silence was interrupted by a familiar harsh voice cutting through the air. Kaito says up hearing a pair of footsteps echoing against the sandy ground. Cassius appeared first half was supporting Zerinn a small bag slung over Cassius' shoulder. The bandages were covering Zerinn's facial wound recently had been changed. Zerinn looked half awake, giving off the impression he wanted to lie down and rest.

"I don't care what that damn nurse says!" Cassius' sharp voice cut through the air. "How dare that those nurses think I'm super rich," Cassius snarled. "And I've paid the bill, and no one in my family stays in hospitals!"

Gadget and Kaito hastily scrambled to get out of Cassius' way allowing Cassius to pass them barely giving them a backward glance heading into the small tent space nearly dropping Zerinn on his sleeping bag. Zerinn lifted his head glaring defiantly at Cassius.

"Dune's going to be a shitty leader," Zerinn said in an aggressive tone. "You damn well know that."

The tension grew tenfold in the area. Cassius bent down gripping Zerinn by his dreadlocks shoving his face into his own son's face. Zerinn ignored the stinging pain coming from his scalp opting to stare right into his father's yellow eyes. The confrontation lasted for a few heart-stopping moments.

"You're nothing, but a weak waste of space," Cassius snarled. "You're going to learn to follow Dune whether you like it or not."

Cassius tightened his grip on Zerinn's hair. The jackal grunted with the pain still locking eyes with his father in a gesture of defiance before his father released his grip on Zerinn's hair leaving his son rubbing at the spot on his scalp where Cassius yanked hard at Zerinn's dreadlocks.

Cassius huffed walking the way he came heading back to the lavish family home seeing Dune and Oasis watching from the window smug smiles on their faces observing the whole scene. Gadget felt sick to his stomach. Cassius made sure Dune heard what his father was saying to the former leader of the Jackal Squad before leaving to spend some time with his family.

"Bro! You're back!" Kaito raced over burying his head in Zerinn's chest. Kaito drew his brother into a half hug mindful of the stitches on his half brother's face. Gadget saw the faint smile on Zerinn's face as he embraced Kaito.

"Yeah, my dad dragged me out," Zerinn chuckled. "The Nurses tried to stop him, but he got his way."

Gadget saw Zerinn approaching him. Gadget recalled the tense frown the jackal used to have on his face in the early days of both boys getting to know each other. Gadget held out his hand for a fist bump. Zerinn stopped right in front of him and much to the wolf's surprise, he drew him into a half-embrace keeping him away from the stitches on the right side of his face.

Gadget was shocked for a few moments. The wolf never imagined stoic Zerinn was showing him some form of affection. Gadget returned the gesture mindful of the jackal's injuries. The two of them broke away from each other aware of Kaito's broad smile on his face and his wagging tail.

"So, was Mr. Dusty Tail not too much trouble for you?"

"No, he wasn't," Gadget chuckled. "Your friends and I spent all, the day preparing the tent for your return."

Zerinn smiled. He knew that his friends would've come through for him. All three of them wanted the moment of peace to last. Kaito hummed a happy tune under his breath, allowing the two jackal brothers to enter their home. Not even the thought of Dune attempting to steal from their fridge where the stored food was could ruin the moment. Both of his adoptive brothers, for now, all three of them were safe and together again no matter how long it took for Zerinn to heal.

* * *

 _Author's note This chapter was fun to write since I wanted to set up Mikhail's role and these guys aren't going to be staying in Saharais for the remainder of the story. There's a mystery there with the photo, though if you've already read the Illusionary Resistance, you'll know who Mikhail is._

 _Kaito is starting to become a bit more independent since after up until the point Aster kidnapped him following Dune's orders. Kaito feels like he's relied on Zerinn for far too long in his short life and with his older half-brother in the hospital. At least Gadget was able to act like a brother to him and be Kaito's emotional support._

 _On a more humorous note, we get the reason why Zerinn was called beehive and too much pudding. Spider Dom 321 and I talked about this idea, and it's more of an inside joke between us, and I couldn't resist not putting it in._

 _Now I've recently decided to update this story once a week for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I want to focus more on the Illusionary Resistance and the second reason is that there are some other story ideas that I've wanted to get out for a while now._

 _I have zero intentions of abandoning this story, and I will see it through to the end._

 _As per usual constructive criticisms /suggestions and reviews are welcomed and appreciated._


	10. Blood in the sands

_Author's note. Hello, I'm back once more with a chapter for you guys, and I want to give a big thank you to the people who have reviewed, faved and followed the story. I appreciate all of the support that everyone has shown this story._

 _Also, I have to give a big thank you to Ayslio for following the story. I genuinely do appreciate the support._

 _Now as always I have to give a thank you to SD321, Aysilo, Guest, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Fanakatsuki TGN, and Turquoise Triangle. As per usual I appreciate the support and the feedback._

 _Warnings there is blood, violence and character death in this one._

 _Disclaimer I don't own anything. Sega owns Sonic the Hedgehog. The only thing I take credit for is this plot._

* * *

A week passed ever since the events of Gadget's arrival in the Jackal Squad's camp. The rest of the resident of the campsite slumbered deeply after a long day of trying to survive in the harsh desert climate.

Cassius slowly turned towards Dune slipping on the sheath with the red short sword attached to his belt. Dune stretched standing to the left of his father's side his tail wagged slightly. Ever since Cassius chose Dune to be the next leader of the Jackal Squad over Zerinn, Dune wasted no time running over to the tent his younger brothers shared along with the freakish machine lover and rubbing it in Zerinn's face.

"So then we're heading out to Shamar to train my squad?"

Cassius looked over at Dune. Like Zerinn Dune bore the same rib cage pattern on his sides his damaged left ear healed, leaving several tears in it where Zerinn bit him over a week ago.

Yes," Came Cassius's reply. He turned his head to face his son."You will be the best leader that the Jackal Squad will have ever seen."

Dune looked over at his slumbering stepmother, the faint traces of alcohol and whiskey lingered on her breath. Earlier that evening Oasis and Sera came to congratulate Dune on becoming the new leader of the Jackal Squad, and Oasis hugged her brother saying she would miss him while he was gone.

"Alright then," Cassius whispered padding out of the room. "Let's go get your brothers and that flea-bitten mongrel."

Dune chuckled at the flea-bitten mongrel comment. Father and son left their home. The moon illuminated the night sky as the lights were on in the smaller house, indicating to Cassius, his other two sons were up and about rushing about grabbing the supplies. Inside their tent, Zerinn stifled a yawn gathering up the small satchel placing the items in the bag. Kaito yawned sleepily with Gadget. The red wolf put his grappling hook prototype in his bag making sure to take several bottles of water on the journey. Kaito grabbed several packets of food slipping into another satchel.

Zerinn healed well from his wound, and the large white scar now stood out against his black fur. The fur on the right side of Zerinn's face never grew back. The big scar on Zerinn's face made the young jackal look more intimidating than he did before.

"Wow, it feels weird we're leaving this place," Gadget commented. "It feels like yesterday when I came into your home."

"Yeah, well, we knew the day would come to say goodbye to this place," Zerinn replied, turning his head slightly to look at Gadget. "Besides, we won't be staying at Shamar forever, and we'll be back in this campsite again in three months."

"Yeah, that's true," Kaito called out having packed the last of the supplies. "Besides Shamar is huge! I heard that it has various ruins out in the desert and the local foods there are delicious!"

The tent flap shifted slightly alerting the three occupants that it was time to go. Gadget and Kaito gathered up the three small satchels while Zerinn exited the tent spying Cassius and Dune standing there the latter forming a big smirk on his face. Cassius stepped back silently allowing his firstborn son to take command. Cassius wanted to gauge Zerinn's reaction. He must have been crazy even to have considered Zerinn for the role of the leader. Zerinn looked up, meeting the disappointment in his father's eyes.

"Are you three freaks ready to go?"

"Yes leader," Zerinn replied bitterly."Kaito and I will follow your every command."

Zerinn and Kaito pinned their ears back, making sure to bow their heads low in submission. Gadget hung watched his friends making the small gesture of submission his fists beginning to clench in anger.

"Alright then we're meeting the rest of the squad at the campsite's entrance," Dune said, turning his head back regarding all three of them with something akin to contempt. "Let's move it. It won't look good for me if we're late."

Zerinn growled low in his throat growing even more angry at his older brother's arrogance. Kaito saw his half-brother tense gently reaching out for Zerinn taking his hand squeezing it in a gesture of standing together.

"I know it makes me mad too," Gadget whispered to Zerinn."You would've made a better leader than Dune."

The group of five Mobians left their tents behind passing through the silent campgrounds except for the guards on the night shift. The town was silent in the darkness. The five travelers were quiet until they spotted the convoy consisting of three jeeps waiting for them where three vehicles parked on the sands. The smell of gasoline was heavy in the air. Gadget saw Quartz, Saber, Nephthys, and Mikhail were already in one of the vehicles.

Ace and Flint were in the next one. Ace sat at the wheel of the second jeep and in the third jeep much to everyone's surprise Chad and Mara sat together in the back seat handcuffed together. Another maned wolf and jackal were in the back seat of the jeep. The expressions on all the prisoners' faces were ones of pure misery.

"Wait, wasn't there one more of those jerks?"

Cassius turned his head towards Zerinn. The small scowl formed on his muzzle. He looked over at the third jeep with their prisoners sitting in the back of the automobile. Gadget noticed Chad lift his head shooting him a dark glare before letting his head sink back down.

"There were, but the fat fennec fox made a break for it," Cassius said anger in his voice. "He'll either be recaptured, or he'll die out that in the desert."

Cassius and Dune climbed into the first jeep with Cassius taking the wheel as Zerinn, Kaito and Gadget entered the second vehicle. The sound of the car engine shuddering before it came to life taking off into the night with the other two jeeps following it.

Gadget sat between Kaito and Zerinn both young jackals were fast asleep. Gadget turned his head, looking back over out of the window watching the shrinking shape of the campsite fading from sight until the wolf couldn't see it anymore.

"Farewell campsite," Gadget whispered. "Maybe I should get some sleep."

The wolf fell asleep resting his head on Zerinn's left side. Cassius looked up into the rearview mirror. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white under the black gloves. To the scarred Jackal in his opinion wolves were nothing more than useless scavenging thieves.

"The second I get to Shamar, I'll do everything I can separate them," Cassius vowed to himself. "He's a bad influence on

Gadget was awoken by a sharp jolt hearing the vehicle skidded into a stop. The flash of bright sunlight raced into the jeep. Zerinn and Kaito were jolted awake as well as yawning slipping out of the jeep landing on the dusty ground.

Gadget rubbed at his eyes gazing around in wonder at the entrance that led into Shamar. Shamar was bigger in comparison to their former home. The streets were far more extensive, and a there were a few humans clad in black uniforms wandering about on the roads along with some Mobians. Gadget noticed there were hedgehogs, ocelots, parrots, and bats.

"Damn it," Cassius let out a low growl in his throat. "I wasn't expecting G.U.N to be here. If we keep our heads down, we should be fine."

Cassius recalled with a grimace someone sighted that Eggman was heading to Shamar. It would explain the increased security in the city. G.U.N Soldiers positioned on top of the outer walls of Shamar's buildings their rifles trained on spots outside of Shamar. The town was in a state of high alert, and the small band of jackals that just arrived with two prisoners in two was raising eyebrows. Cassius glared at several Mobians who hurried on ahead

Gadget heard the jeep doors opening allowing the wolf along with his adoptive brothers to exit the vechile. Flint opened the door to the third jeep prodding both Mara and Chad along with the other two prisoners forward, keeping their hands tied together bringing them over to the entrance of Shamar. Quartz looked all over at the large town an almost hungry look appearing in his eyes at the sight of the gold bangles on a passing women's wrists.

"Oh yeah, now this is more like it."

"It's so much bigger than I thought it would be."

The young jackals followed the older jackals looking all around in wonder at the massive, sprawling walls of Shamar following Cassius to a large worn down motel. A group of hedgehogs milled about in front of the motels' entrance before their leader said something before his group headed off to the eastern part of town, unaware they were being watched.

"Ah Quartz," Cassius said, smiling with a small smirk. I've got a little job for you Do you. see those group of hedgehogs over there?"

"I do, Cassius," Quartz said softly. "I take it you have a mission for me?"

"I do," Cassius replied smirking."I want you to follow that group of mercenaries on your own, and you have to kill one of them and bring back proof.

The group of younger jackals froze in shock as Quartz swallowed nervously. Gadget and Zerinn paused, turning towards a grinning Dune who strode forward, pushing Quartz forward who fought Dune every step of the way until Cassius reached out seizing Quartz's arm in a vice-like grip squeezing it tightly with a sneer crossing his face.

"Damn it!" Quartz snarled. "There's no way that I'm leaving my friends!"

"You don't have a choice," Dune snarled all hints of "If you refuse to accept this mission, then I will exile you to the

Zerinn ran forward with Kaito only for Roscoe to step into their path his blade drawn. Quartz realized that fighting was useless bowing his head low in reluctant acceptance of his fate.

"Zerinn, please don't fight back, "Quartz said, looking over at the anguished expression on Zerinn's face. "I will come back alive, and Dune is going to be such a bad leader of the Jackal Squad, due to his cowardice."

With a new resolve, Quartz walked past his friends following the group of hedgehog's tracks. Quartz shot one last look at his friends waving his hand in a silent, sad goodbye. The change in Quartz's demeanor was a shock for Gadget. The teen usually had a smile on his face along with a good sense of humor was now gone.

"Bye guys," Quartz whispered with a sullen tone to his voice. "Be strong Mikhail, Gadget, Saber, Zerinn, Kaito, Nephthys, Ace and Flint."

Quartz felt a shove from one Dune forcing him to keep walking and a few minutes passed until Quartz was out of sight. Mikhail's ears drooped against his skull the small tears leaking out from underneath his eyes. The rest of the jackals looked on as Chad and Mara sniggered at Zerinn's misfortune before Flint whacked them across the back of the head.

"Why the hell did you get rid of Quartz old man?" Zerinn demanded to shake in anger. "He did nothing wrong! How do you know this mission won't get him killed?!"

"Quartz may be young, but I've seen his fighting skills," Cassius said glaring at Zerinn. "Besides Quartz struck the future leader of the Jackal Squad, so I figured he needed to be toughened up. It doesn't matter to me if he comes back dead or alive."

Cassius breathed out, turning his attention to the small group that stood in front of him. Mikhail and Kaito's ears were down scuffing the ground with their feet not even paying attention to Cassius. The older jackal lets a low growl building in his throat at their refusal to make eye contact with him.

"I want you and the other jackals to be ready within an hour. Gadget and Mikhail can stay behind and polish our weapons by themselves."

"No way! We can go to!"

Gadget froze in fear seeing Cassius run over to him delivering a hard slap to the force of the blow knocked Gadget to the ground. The wolf's glasses fell off his face. Gadget lets out a gasp of pain. His cheek stung from the slap. His vision consisted of nothing of a blurry landscape as he saw a flash of blurry gray fur with Mikhail placing his glasses on the bridge of his snout.

"Gadget are you okay?"

Zerinn and Kaito immediately stood between Gadget and Kaito their tails bristling as Zerinn stared at his father with pure, undisguised hatred keeping a protective gesture with his arms spread out

"I can't stand wolves," Cassius snarled. "Wolves are near the bottom of the social ladder. They are weak, useless mongrels and if I had my way, I would've killed that half jackal freak a long time ago. Gadget and Mikhail will stay here, and they will polish our weapons!"

There was a threat in the older jackal's words. Zerinn helped Gadget to his feet, pulling him to his feet. Mikhail leaned into Gadget giving him a hug of reassurance.

"It's okay, please don't do that again,"

"I know it's a real pain, but listen to that old idiot," Zerinn whispered in a gentle tone, placing a hand on Gadget's shoulder squeezing it gently. "I don't want to lose another friend today."

Gadget felt a stab of guilt. The mismatched eyes had a single tear slipping out of the corner of Zerinn's right eye. Gadget felt guilty at acting so rashly; he could only imagine how hard it must've been for Zerinn to bid farewell to Quartz and now

"I won't," Gadget replied. "Just don't worry about me Zerinn."

"I'll keep an eye on him I promise," Mikhail added in placing a hand on Gadget's shoulder. "You can tell us about your big adventure when you get back."

"Move out Jackal Squad!" Dune's voice cried out falling into stride behind Cassius eager to please his irritated father. The rest of the young jackals fell into step subdued Quartz's departure as Gadget and Mikhail and Blade headed off to complete their task. Chad and Mara were taken away by one of the guardsmen to the nearest prison.

The other maned wolf and jackal prisoner was taken by Cassius heading over to the group of jackals.

"Hey, where are you taking us now?!" Axel protested. "This isn't the way to Shamar's prison!"

"Shut up Axel," Cassius snarled."Both you and Lyra broke the law in the campground when you robbed from the strong. Now you have to face the punishment."

Axel fell silent. The walk was quiet, and Axel couldn't shake the feeling that there was an ominous feeling descending on the group. The blazing midday sun shone down as the small group with their two prisoners came to a spot not too far away from Shamar. Axel and Lyra were released from their bonds. Confusion was on their faces as they stared around at the group of jackals who drew out their weapons. Cassius gave both of the thieves small knives, prompting both Lyra and Axel to ecxhange a confused glance with each other.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on?" Lyra asked fearfully.

"The first lesson that every mercenary must learn is the art of killing," Cassius intoned turning to face the band of young jackals. "Today your first lesson is to kill these two fugitives. If a mercenary can't kill their target, they'll be a dead mercenary."

Axel and Lyra exchanged a horrified glance with each other the reality of the situation slowly began to sink in. They were going to die out here in the desert alone and defenseless. The expressions on the young jackal's faces hardened.

"No, wait!" Axel cried out sinking to his knees."Have mercy on us please."

Dune regarded the frantic expression on Axel's face. The maned wolf got on his knees; his hands held out in a begging gesture. Dune looked down at the red short sword resting in his hands for a few heart-stopping moments.

"Nephthys and Ace," Dune said a stoic tone to his voice. "Deal with Lyra. Zerinn, Kaito, Flint, Saber and I will deal with Axel. Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"

Lyra broke into a run her steps shaky and uneven unable to stay balanced on the sands. Nephthys and Hela surrounded her. Mara looked down at the small knife which Iris gave to her, and she looked at the daggers held by her opponents. Nephthys darted in scoring a hit on her upper left arm, leaving a trickle of blood.

"Agh!" Lyra lashed out her face contorting into one of rage. "I won't go down to a pair of pups. Not like this!"

Lyra took another run at Hela, who snorted lashing out with a well-timed kick to Lyra's legs, knocking them out from underneath Mara sending her crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust rising into the air as Nephthys pinned her down turning her over. A pair of fierce yellow eyes glared down into Lyra's own terrified eyes.

Hela raced in slashing at Lyra's unprotected legs and arms staining the sand beneath her body with Nephthys cutting at her shoulders and chest. The pain ached everywhere all over the older jackal's body. Nephthys pressed the tip of the steel blade pressed against her throat.

"You knew the law that the weak must never steal from the strong in Saharais," Hela snarled in anger. "Do you have any last words?"

"Yeah, I do," Lyra chuckled weakly spitting out a goblet of blood. "That freak with the mismatched eyes is all going to get you killed ones of these days. Mark my words he will."

It was too much for Nephthys to accept the older jackal's insult. With an enraged scream, she slashed Lyra's throat with such ferocity that surprised her. The blade cuts through Mara's jugular vein the gush of blood sprayed Nephthys across the face as Mara slumped to the ground her sightless eyes staring up into the sky.

Axel heard Lyra's final gasp of pain. It was hard to see the red blood against his fur as his heart paled listening to the group of jackals cheering for Lyra's death. Saber ran at Axel striking a blow against his arm. Axel lashed out with the small knife, scoring a hit on Saber's chest.

"Go in for the kill!"

Ace cried out feinting to the left only for Axel to delivering a kick to Flint's shin hearing a pained cry came from the jackal with the knife Cassius gave him. Axel turned his angry eyes to Dune who froze in fear. Zerinn glared at his older cowering brother. It was almost a pathetic sight. Moments ago Dune landed several hits on Axel darting out of the way, and he lost his hold on the red short sword seeing it land blade first in the sand.

"I'm coming for you coward!"

Axel made a run right for Dune who panicked briefly his gaze drawn to the knife in Chad's hand. Dune froze in place reaching down for his sword

"I need time to get my weapon!," Dune cried out in fear. "That's not fair!"

Zerinn glared at Dune wrenching the sword out of the ground running to engage the older maned wolf in battle. Zerinn drew close to Axel thrusting his father's sword forward. The tip of the blade pierced the maned wolf's chest. Axel let out an agonized scream of pain as Zerinn pulled back on the hilt withdrawing sword, seeing the maned wolf collapse to the ground eyes wide in disbelief at what had happened.

"It hurts," Axel said. "Someone please make it stop."

Axel flopped on his side, gasping. His heart weakly fluttered — the gush of blood leaking from his chest. Every time his heart beat it was getting weaker. Zerinn stabbed deeply into his heart. The maned wolf knew he was going to die soon and there was nothing the maned wolf could do to stop it.

"I hope that you're happy. You are a monster."

With those words, Axel closed his eyes with one last sigh. Dune released his hold on Kaito who scurried over to Zerinn who had the maned wolf's blood splattered on his chest, looking down at the maned wolf lying dead in the sand. Zerinn felt the rush of adrenaline leaving his system as he sank to his knees. The shock of having killed someone slowly began to set in. Kaito came up to his older brother hugging him in silence.

"That was pathetic," Dune said kicking Axel's body. "I could have killed him quicker than you ever did."

Zerinn said nothing standing up to his feet, landing a quick punch to Dune's face, sending his older brother sprawling to the ground. Zerinn heaved in a deep breath, seeing his father looking down at him with a proud smile on his face.

"Well done," Cassius said, smiling broadly. "You have a knack for killing. That's a real sign that you have a killer instinct."

Zerinn nodded, hearing his father's praise. Cassius shot a look of disgust at Dune who shrank back keeping his head down to avoid eye contact with his father.

"Cassius, what do we do with the bodies?" Roscoe asked, nudging Lyra's dead body with his foot. "Do we give them a burial?"

Several harsh squawks cut through the air as Cassius looked up to see the vultures beginning to circle overhead. The scarred jackal shook his head from side to side.

"No, they proved to be too weak," Cassius said in a cold tone. "Their bodies will sustain the vultures."

The trek back to Shamar was in silence. Kaito silently placed himself against Zerinn. The group of jackals walked away from the bodies of the victims behind in the desert to be picked apart by the sharp beaks of the vultures.

The rays of the evening sun filtered in through the thin blinds of the large room Gadget and Mikhail sat on two of the four beds in the room. The door opened as Kaito was the first one to enter the room with his tail dragging along the ground behind him which was unusual for Kaito.

"Kaito?" Mikhail was on his feet hurrying towards him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kaito shuddered. "We had to do something terrible today. Please don't ask us what happened."

Kaito made his way over to the bed, and Zerinn stepped into the room. Gadget recoiled in horror, seeing the dried blood clinging to Zerinn's fur. The older jackal made his way over to the bed, sitting down on it hearing the bed springs creak underneath his weight.

The silence fell over the room as a shuddering breath broke the silence. Zerinn looked up; with a haunted expression in his eyes. Several minutes passed by in silence. Gadget thought he saw Zerinn's lips turn up in a slight smile of satisfaction before it vanished to be replaced by the same tired expression.

"Hey Gadget?"

Gadget looked up, seeing Zerinn fiddle with the edge of the bed sheets a small frown lining his mouth.

"Listen, it was nothing," Zerinn replied."It's none of your concern. "It's that I'm still trying to come to terms that Quartz is with another squad."

"We all are going to miss him too," Mikhail said sadly. "Quartz was like a brother to all of us."

Gadget got up off his bed, sitting next to Zerinn along with Mikhail and Kaito. The four of them offering quiet comfort to each other with the loss of Quartz wasn't just a member of the future Jackal Squad. Quartz was the big brother Zerinn, and Kaito never had.

Meanwhile, over the desert sands, a small platoon of EggRobos flew across the desert landscape with a Gray Egg Mobile with yellow and black stripes over it. Doctor Eggman sat hunched over the wheel of the Egg mobile his eyes focused on a small green screen with a single emerald shaped object on it.

"Ah, so according to my sensors there is a Chaos Emerald in Shamar of all places," Eggman grinned, running a finger through his mustache."Of all the places to find a Chaos Emerald."

Eggman looked down at the small group of robots. The rotund figure narrowly escaped another defeat at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog with a scowl forming on his face. He'd been so close to obtaining the power of the Master Emerald for himself. The doctor's robotic army mostly reduced to nothing more than a small group of EggRobos after the attack on Angel Island. Another plan which had been foiled by Sonic and Tails.

"Ah, it's no matter, then," Eggman muttered grinning to himself. "I'll find a way to conquer Shamar and the Chaos Emerald will be an excellent consolation prize."

Eggman still kept the board grin on his face, making his way towards Shamar unaware that high above him in the sky that a small red and white biplane was following him with Sonic the Hedgehog standing on the wings his arms folded across his chest.

"So Tails we've got to follow Eggman to Shamar and stop him, from getting that Chaos Emerald," Sonic said letting out a low sigh. "It would have been nice to have a vacation at least before we got dragged into one of Eggman's schemes again."

The young fox nodded in agreement.

"I know Sonic, but we got a call from the mayor of Shamar saying that they found a Chaos Emerald and it can't fall into Eggman's hands," Tails replied. "Besides, if we drive Eggman off, then we can catch a breather."

Sonic nodded as the Tornado continued following Eggman heading to Shamar. What no one realized was that a storm was coming and when it ended nothing would be the same ever again.

* * *

 _Author's note. This had to be the longest chapter of this story I've written since it was over 3000 words and it's the last we're going to see of the campsite Gadget called home since we're not going to be returning to the campsite mostly due to it having served it's purpose in the stroy, since it was more of a training ground for the future members of the Jackal Squad._

 _Now on the subject of the deaths of the two random prisoners. I'd imagine that when the Zerinn and the rest of the Jackal began their mercenary training, I'd guess that being taught to kill their targets would be a priority and it presented an opportunity for me to explore the effects of Zerinn's first kill. Zerinn is at first shaken by it, but at the same time, he enjoyed the taste of his first kill. Aster is still alive, and we will see Chad and Mara again within the story._

 _Eggman finally enters the scene along with Sonic and Tails since there are plans for these three to play a role in the next few chapters of the story and I won't say what those plans are; you'll have to wait and see._

 _As per usual thoughts/suggestions and reviews are always welcomed and appreciated._


	11. War on Shamar

_Author's note Here I am back with another chapter for you all and I hope that you enjoy it. I also want to thank you for over 50 reviews. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _I want to take the time to thank the people who have viewed, faved and favorited this story and a special thank you for this story having 15 favorites and 18 follows. Thank you all so much._

 _Also, a shout out and thank you to Wafflesbelike-NYANCAT for leaving a follow on the story. I appreciate your support._

As always a big thank you to SpiderDom321, TheGameNguyener, Fanakatsuki, the mystery guest and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review. I genuinely appreciate your support.

Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic belongs to Sonic Team and Sega.

* * *

That night Gadget couldn't sleep. The wolf tossed and turned on the rumpled bedsheets. The hot, humid nighttime air in Shamar was even warmer than it was in Saharais if that was possible. Small beads of sweat dotted Gadgets brow. Gadget felt the corner of his lips upwards in a tight grimace. Gadget slowly opened his eyes, sensing something was brushing against his body.

"It's the photo that mom and dad gave me," Gadget whispered looking down at it. "Huh, now I think about it, Mikhail has my mother's hair tufts."

Mikhail stirred slowly opening his eyes at the wolf's soft words sitting upright in the bed the small frown lined his muzzle, half awake from the sound of Gadget's voice.

"You haven't put two and two together yet, have you?"

Gadget squirmed uneasily at Mikhail's question. Guilt gnawed away at Gadget. He'd hadn't even thought about taking a look at the picture Mikhail gave to him with Zerinn's appendicitis and the trip to Shamar along with Quartz taken away from them. The light gray fur stood out against the darkness as Mikhail slipped out of his bed padding towards Gadget reaching out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder the small gesture sent a slight chill through Gadget.

"You have our mother's fur," Mikhail whispered, tears threatening to leak from the corner of his eyes. "I can't believe it that I found you at last."

"No, it couldn't be," Gadget shifted on the bed, ignoring the sweat droplets forming on his forehead. "I thought that I was the only child of my parents."

For a few minutes passed as Gadget reached down for the photo Mikhail gave him the last time they'd met. With trembling hands, he unfolded the picture revealing not only his mother in her arms a smaller Mikhail swaddled in light blue cloth with his mother smiling down at the baby in her arms.

 _Mikhail's my half-brother. I'm not alone anymore._

Gadet trembled with emotion. Without warning, he embraced Mikhail into a warm, gentle embrace. The two of them hugged each other for a few minutes before they broke apart with a warm, gentle smile.

"How did you end up in Saharais?" Gadget asked, seeing Zerinn open his eyes a crack before he sat up on the bed with Kaito looking up at the reunion with smiles on their faces.

"Well, shortly after I was born, my drunken idiot of a father came back to claim me," Mikhail said bitterly. "Under the law in Saharais in the case of a divorce, it's the father who gets sole custody rights to the baby. Well, that's at least what Quartz's mother told me. Our mum tried to fight it, but she had to leave Saharais."

"I'm two years older than you," Mikhail said.

Gadget finally understood the reason why his mother hated Saharais with a passion. It wasn't because of a falling out with her sister; it was because Mikhail's father had forced her to abandon her firstborn son to the hands of someone who wasn't even fit to be called a father.

"I can't believe it. We are half brothers."

"Oh, that's adorable."

Both Gadget and Mikhail noticed both Kaito and Zerinn watching the reunion as Zerinn pushed himself off the bed having washed the blood off his fur. Zerinn approached Gadget happy for his friend had found a member of his family who was alive.

"Well, at least you found one member of your family," Zerinn said smiling.

"Yeah, I did, and I thought I didn't have any relatives in Saharais," Gadget replied, raising a hand to wipe away at his eyes. "I can't believe that we-"

The happy mood in the room vanished instantly. Gadget saw a flash of silver in the darkness. His heart began to pound in fear seeing the gleam of red eyes with the Egg Robo hovering outside of the window raising the blaster pointing it through the slats aiming right at the occupants in the room.

"Get down!"

Gadget jumped off the bed knocking Zerinn down to the ground the sound of the laser blasted through the air. A loud bang went off jolting both Kairo and Mikhail awake hearing the noise of the laser as all four of them ran out of the abode into the cold night air hearing the sounds of screams filling the air.

"Eggman's attacking! Eggman's launched his assault!"

The G.U.N soldiers ran into the streets firing of their weapons at the mass of EggRobos swarming the streets. Several tanks rolled through the streets, the crowd of Mobians broke into a panic as Gadget saw Saber, Nephthys and Fenrir already attacking several of the EggRobos while Cassius came running towards them, his lips pulled back in a snarl. In his left hand, Cassius clasped the short crimson sword between his fingers oil leaking off it.

"Zerinn and Kaito you two better help us fight back against Eggman's forces," Cassius snarled blood was already leaking from a wound in his thigh. "Dune was no help. As soon as those robots showed up, he ran off to the prison to take refuge."

Maniacal laughter filled the air. Gadget looked up, seeing the Eggmobile with Eggman in it. The broad smile never left the mad human's face. Eggman smiled surveying the damage his robots were inflicting upon the city. Even with Guns' fortifications, the robots continued to swarm into Shamar as Eggman cackled.

Fenrir, Saber, Hela, and Roscoe engaged a small group of the Badniks while Nephthys, Blade, and Iris escorted several citizens to safety destroying every robot that stood between them and the citizens.

"Come on, I know that there's a Chaos Emerald around here somewhere," Eggman muttered typing in several keys on a small device. "Ah Hah! It's in the Shamar museum. Well, then I'll claim it for myself."

The Egg Mobile shot off heading in the direction of the museum. Gadget listened to his pounding heart. He ducked back into he abode racing for the small bag that contained his grappling hook as he ran his fingers over the smooth metal.

"Are you sure it will work?"

Zerinn was giving the Grappling hook an odd look the small frown not having left his face. Gadget slipped the grappling hook feeling the smooth metal slip over his wrist. A sense of determination crept over the wolf the small frown appearing on his face. He'd just found a member of his family. Mikhail reached for the small knife a tense smile on his face since the two of them spent the whole day polishing blades and both of them were ready for combat.

"It has to work," Gadget replied in determination. "I was able to repair it, and it should destroy whatever robots it goes up against instantly."

Kaito grabbed several small knives from out of the drawer handing one over to Zerinn and Mikhail the four of them raced into the streets as they were all determined to fight back.

Gadget and Zerinn found themselves by several EggRobos. The robots pointed their lasers at Gadget as the wolf leaped into the air the wire snaking out from the end of the grappling hook slamming into the robots sending parts everywhere.

"Nice, that's what I like to see!"

Zerinn thrust outwards with the small knife, leaving several small gashes in the robot's metal surface as sparks shot out of the metallic outer skin. The jackal to land several furious kicks on the robotic shell felling it with one final punch sending it crashing into the wall.

"Hah, these robots are flimsy as all heck," Zerinn said.

The sound of heavy footsteps sounded of the cobblestones. Several EggRobos raced past them. Gadge and Zerinn chased after Eggman following the Egg Mobile towards the museum. Gadget looked up, seeing the vast city walls where a new sound cut through the nighttime air. Zerinn skidded to a halt, his the tips of his lips curled upwards in a slight sneer his eyes drawn to the sight of the red plane flying in overhead.

"Well, that's perfect," Zerinn growled. "Eggman's brought in reinforcements."

Gadget followed Zerinn's gaze up to the sight of the red plane flying in low seeing the white lettering plastered on the side. A flash of blue fur jumped down from the Tornado curling up into a ball striking each of the flying EggRobos in the air destroying them before the blue ball landed on the ground uncurling to reveal Sonic.

"Well, that's a relief we got here in time," Sonic said turning towards Gadget and Zerinn. "Do the two of you need to go somewhere safe?"

Gadget froze. Sonic the Hedgehog was asking him a question. In all of his wildest dreams, he never would have imagined that Mobius' hero would ask him a question. The wolf felt sweat on his palms trembling in what was it excitement? Or nervousness? The wolf couldn't tell the difference.

"We're fighting," Zerinn replied."There's no way that we're letting you do this alone."

"Hey, Zerinn, that was rude," Gadget replied fiercely elbowing Zerinn in the side. "Eggman always gets away. Sonic's unauthorized autobiography says so."

"You should have killed Eggman the first chance you got," Zerinn grumbled, making eye contact with Sonic."Then maybe all of Mobius wouldn't be in danger all the time."

"If you're going to help that'd be great," Sonic "My buddy Tails is heading to the museum," Sonic rebuked ignoring Zerinn's comment.

Choosing not to wait for an answer Sonic broke into a run heading in the direction of the museum determined to stop Eggman.

"Wait, was that Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Kaito hurried over with Mikhail the two of them had slight patches of oil on their fur. Kaito had several small cuts on his body, but both of them were still ready and willing to fight looking in the direction that Sonic ran.

"Yeah, it was," Gadget replied, feeling his heart return to normal. "Come on; we have to see if we can give Sonic a hand."

Zerinn huffed in annoyance following Gadget along with Mikhail and Kaito. Sonic was a mystery. Since Mobius' hero barely spoke about his private life since it was well known the blue hedgehog was secretive to the source of many Mobians frustration which led to Sonic's unofficial autobiographies filled with speculation on the hedgehog's private life.

"We're almost there!"

Thick smoke clouds were pouring out from the entrance of the museum as the Egg mobile left the building. Eggman was glowering holding on a purple gemstone with Tails sitting on Eggman's shoulder, yanking hard on his mustache in vain to get the scientist to drop the Chaos Emerald. The Egg mobile was rising high up into the sky as it was several meters off the ground.

"You insufferable pest!" Eggman growled feeling Tails tighten his grip on Eggman's mustache. "This Emerald is mine, and Sonic is too late. You may have stopped me from stealing the Master Emerald and foiling my plans to launch the Death Egg, but this time you won't stop me!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Tails yanked hard on the mustache prompting Eggman to yelp forcing the mad genius to drop the Chaos Emerald. "Sonic catch!"

Gadget spied seeing a flash of light blue explode out of the museum. Sonic hurried along the ground diving for the Chaos Emerald the weight of the gem land comfortably in his outstretched palms. The look of relief appeared on Sonic's face.

"He dives, and he's got one Chaos Emerald!" Sonic got to his feet. "Sorry, Eggface you lose again."

Sonic's joy at having caught the Chaos Emerald didn't last long hearing robots landing all around him. The Badniks pointed their weapons at Sonic, Gadget, Zerinn, Kaito, and Mikhail. The small group of Mobians bared their teeth in defiance at their refusal to submit and be killed by Eggman.

However, there was another pair of running footsteps as Cassius turned the corner his eyes zeroing in on Eggman seeing several robots stomping towards his two sons. That accursed blue hedgehog along with the red wolf and the hybrid freak. All of them didn't deserve to live, but he wasn't about to sacrifice his two sons, even if one of them was weaker than Dune.

"Prepare to die Eggman!"

Cassius' deep voice cut through the air as the larger jackal broke into a run, taking a flying leap into the air, raising his sword high above his head preparing to deal the killing blow. Cassius felt his heart pounding with excitement at the upcoming thrill of the kill as Eggman raised his hand.

At the doctor's unbidden signal two of the EggRobos rose into the air two of them fired off lasers both of the shots grazed Cassius' left side gripping the jackal by his wrist holding him in place. The weight of the jackal dragged the EggRobo down. The robot hovered in the air the cold fingers gripping Cassius' right wrist.

"Dad!" Kaito screamed in pure panic. "Dad fight back!"

Zerinn looked up, seeing his father's plight. The blood was oozing from the cuts. The laser left a burn mark along Cassius' side stopping his attack, holding the jackal up in the air. The sword slipped from Cassius' grasp, landing blade first in the dirt as Cassius weakly thrashed around. Sonic stowed the Chaos Emerald away in the back of his quills.

"Oh, Sonic I'm willing to make a trade," Eggman taunted mockingly taking joy in the distraught expression on Kaito's face. "The Chaos Emerald for this mercenary who foolishly tried to kill me. If you don't know well this jackal will go splat against the ground."

"Hey, that's your dad up there right?," Sonic queried with a slight hint of panic in his voice.

"Yes, that's our father. Zerinn please I know that we both hate dad and you're not a fan of Sonic," Kaito replied his tone shaky with emotion. Kaito reached out to grab Zerinn by the wrist. "Please let Sonic save him."

Gadget saw Zerinn look up a small tense frown on his face making eye contact with Cassius. His father glared at him, curling his lips back slightly. There had been no love lost between Zerinn and Cassius.

"Fine, just save him already," Zerinn replied coldly.

Cassius suddenly lunged for the Eggrobo's arm with his free left hand wrenching it off as it came apart in a shower of sparks. However, as a result, with nothing to hold on to Cassius let out a scream plummeting through the air on a collision course to the ground.

"Hold on Cassius!" Gadget cried out.

Sonic ran forward as Tails grabbed his hands lifting off into the air towards the falling mercenary. Eggman chose that moment to leave shooting one last triumphant look at his enemies racing to save the falling jackal. His plan to retrieve the Chaos Emerald may have failed, but thanks to the jackal's foolishness, it presented an opportunity for Eggman to escape. He pressed a small button on his wrist summoning the last few Badniks to his side.

"I'll, be back with even more robots," Eggman called down to them. "Also, I may bring an old friend for you to play with the next time we meet Sonic."

Tails carried Sonic the hedgehog extended a hand to Cassius, who slapped it away before he landed on the ground hard feet first. The Jackal screamed in agony feeling the bones in his ankles shatter before he continued to bounce along the earth coming to a stop. Cassius let out a low moan of pain before he sank into unconsciousness.

Zerinn ran up to his father's side. Zerinn kneeled at his father's side, placing an ear to his father's chest. There was a weak, fluttering heartbeat. Cassius was so still that if it weren't for the faint pulse, Zerinn had almost made the mistake his father was dead.

"Is he?" Gadget asked.

"No, sadly he's not dead, but I need you to get Saber and Blade," Zerinn said calmly. "The bones in his ankles are likely fractured from that fall, and we need to stop the bleeding. Serves him right though after all the crap he's put us through."

Gadget nodded numbly breaking into a run away from where Cassius lay injured. The wolf couldn't believe what had just happened. Cassius, the gruff, no-nonsense leader of the Jackal Squad, lay possibly dying in the street of Shamar. The wolf needed to find Saber, and thankfully he saw Saber come running towards him.

"Gadget, I saw Cassius falling through the sky," Saber said with a slight hint of worry in his voice. "It, sounded bad hearing him scream in pain. He's a fighter I'm sure he'll be fine."

Gadget hurried back to where Cassius lay on the ground. Sonic headed in the direction of the hospital. The wolf noticed that the other members of the Jackal Squad gently had turned Cassius on his back with Iris placing several rags on top of Cassius' wound to stop the bleeding. The white rags immediately saturated with blood, the red substance covering Iris' hands.

"Gadget?" Kaito came hurrying towards him with Zerinn in tow. "I know that Zerinn and I don't like our dad, but if he dies what will happen to us?"

Zerinn drew Kaito into a gentle embrace hearing Kaito softly whimper in sorrow. "We stay strong, Kaito. No matter what happens."

The sound of sirens alerted everyone to the presence of the ambulance racing through the streets with Sonic leading the way.

The hero came to a stop allowing the medics to descend out of the vehicle carefully placing Cassius on the stretcher with Blade and Roscoe climbing into the back of the ambulance before the ambulance sped off into the night.

"Hey, Gadget it will be okay," Mikhail said, placing an arm around Gadget. "I'm sure that Cassius will pull through."

Gadget said nothing to Mikhail looking over as Zerinn sighed, drawing Kaito into a hug the younger jackal pup burying his head into Zerinn's chest. Even though Zerinn and Kaito both hated their father, the possibility of Cassius' death due to his severe injuries, remained. If Cassius passed away, it meant that the balance of power would soon shift in the Jackal Squad.

* * *

 _Author's note._ _This chapter was a hard one to write out since I figured that starting with the reunion between Gadget and Mikhail start out on a sweet note, as I wanted a clam before the storm moment before everything went south. Luna hated her ex-boyfriend because she lost her firstborn son to his drunken deadbeat of a father since she was protective of Gadget as a child because she was afraid of losing him._

 _We're now at the halfway point of the story, since the later chapters will get darker._

 _One of the hurdles I had with this chapter was how to handle Cassius getting injured. There is a reason why Zerinn was cold towards his injured father. All of his life Cassius has always despised Zerinn and now that he's wounded Zerinn knows that there's a chance his father could die, and he didn't have a strong bond with Zerinn and Cassius picked on Kaito as well hence Zerinn's cold disdain towards his father in his injured state. Even though Eggman played a role in Cassius getting injured, it doesn't matter to Zerinn._

 _As always thoughts/suggestions and reviews are always appreciated and welcomed. However, I'm going to put this story on a slight hiatus since I do want to get a couple of new one-shots out and I'm not canceling this story, and I will resume this in a couple of weeks._


	12. Calm before the storm

_Author's note. First of all, we're now at the halfway point of this story, and I wanted to thank everyone for leaving a favorite, or a follow on this story since I genuinely do appreciate the support. I can't believe that this story has over 50 reviews and over 2,500 views already. I have to say thank you all so much._

 _As always, a big thank you to Fanaktsuki, SpiderDom321, TheGamenguyener, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, SharpDragonKlaw, and Guest. I genuinely appreciate your feedback and support._

 _As always I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega owns the franchise._

* * *

The scene after Eggman's attack could only be described in one word was chaos. Buildings lay in smoking ruins; several citizens ended up dying in the chaotic assault.

The last of the fires left over from Eggman's attack were put out preventing any more injuries. Ambulances tore down the streets of Shamar carrying several injured Mobians from the attack on the hospital. The small group of Mobians consisting of Gadget the other members of the Jackal Squad sat around in several hard plastic chairs with a sense of dread filled the room.

Gadget looked up as it had been several hours when Cassius had been rushed into the operating theatre leaving everyone to await the news if the leader of thJackal Squad would make it. It didn't look good for Cassius the doctors told them, the force of Cassius landing on the stone hard ground had broken several of his ribs one of them puncturing his lungs resulting in severe internal bleeding.

In the doctor's opinion, it was a miracle Cassius was still alive, but they cautioned the young jackals not to get their hopes high for their father to recover.

Gadget shifted uneasily on the hard plastic chairs. Zerinn sat stoically next to him as Kaito lay across his brother's lap half awake letting out a low sob. Dune sat on the opposite side of the room his black fur pale looking about the area nervously.

"So, does anyone know if our dad's going to die?"

Gadget's ears pricked hearing Kaito mumble. The young jackal child shifted uneasily feeling Zerinn release his hold on him.

"I, hope so," Zerinn broke the silence angrily. "Kaito have you forgotten about all the hell; he's put us through? That monster would slap us if we cried."

Zerinn gently squeezed Kaito's hand. "We're better off without him."

"How can you say that?!" Both Gadget and Mikhail cried out at once as Zerinn looked over in surprise. The wolf slid off his seat with angry tears running down his face his fists were trembling not making eye contact with Zerinn.

Sonic came right up to Zerinn shooting him a glare. The hedgehog approached Zerinn his quills bristling with anger his ears pinned back against his head his lips pulled back in a slight grimace.

"Tails didn't have any parents, he's an orphan," Sonic said his tone dangerously low. "You have no right to say, that. If you're going to hurt Tails, then you'll have to go through me first."

The two of them pushed back their chairs their eyes narrowing as Zerinn flexed his fingers. Gadget sensed the sudden tenseness in the room. Zerinn let out a low growl placing his body between Kaito and Sonic lip curling ever so slightly in anger. Sonic wasn't one to lose his temper with another Mobian, but hearing the jackal callously saying his father deserved to die angered him.

"Stop, it Zerinn!" Gadget cried out running up forcing himself between Sonic and Zerinn seeing the jackal curl his lip ever so slightly surprised at Gadget's sudden defiance. The wolf looked so determined, he was trembling a bit, but there was a fire in his eyes that refused to die out.

"At least, you still have a father, Zerinn!" Gadget cried out in anguish. "Mikhail and I don't have our fathers, and I know that Cassius has been an awful, father towards you and Kaito, but he's still your father."

Zerinn paused hearing Dune snort. The jackal lifted his head eying them both with disdain. Dune shifted the small cruel smirk appeared on his face. Kaito pinned his ears back, a low whimper leaving his throat.

"Oh, please your parents died just to get away from you."

Kaito and Tails let out a gasp of horror at Dune's statement. The other young jackals looked up as Gadget let out an uncharacteristic growl. He saw red, and before anyone could stop him, he lunged for Dune pummeling the jackal pup. Gadget wrested him to the ground landing several punches and kicks on Dune hearing this cowardly pup whimper and cry out for mercy, but Gadget allowed his anger to take over. He continued to punch the cowering pup in front of him repeatedly until a pair of hands gripped him around the shoulders pulling him away from Dune.

"You're awful! My parents loved me," Gadget screamed at the top of his lungs feeling a rough grip as Zerinn spun him around pressing him close. Decision made the wolf struggled against Zerinn's firm hold.

"Let, go of me Zerinn!" Gadget pounded away at Zerinn's chest not caring that that he was striking his friend's chest. "Dune's had this coming for a long time

"Shh, Gadget, take it easy," Zerinn mumbled rubbing his hand in small circles on Gadget's back hearing the wolf pup sobbing, warm salty tears flowing down his chest the small sobs escaping from the wolf.

"Dune's an asshole, and your parents didn't die to get away from you," Zerinn whispered. Mikhail seized his chance to approach the young jackal who handed Gadget to his older half-brother as Mikhail drew Gadget against him.

The nurse, a slightly plump otter, stepped into the room clasping a clipboard in between her paws shifted her gaze nervously around the room aware of the hostile tension between Sonic and Zerinn the latter lashing his tail eager for a fight.

The sound of a door opening caused everyone's attention to turn to the nurse with a name tag with the name Maria on it. Maria cleared her throat nervously catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"I deeply regret to inform everyone in this room that Cassius is dying," Maria said sadly."His injuries were too severe since his spine was broken in the fall. He doesn't have long, so he wants to see his sons before its too late."

The news hit the room hard as Gadget inhaled deeply in shock. Zerinn, Kaito, and Dune stood up in shock trying to process the information. Gadget shook his head in disbelief what he'd heard. Cassius, the leader of the Jackal Squad, was dead. The scarred jackal would never again lead his squad into battle ever again. Kaito sobbed his brother softly placing a hand around his shoulders only looking around the room.

"I'll be taking Zerinn, Dune, and Kaito to see him," The nurse said nervously. "His wife and stepdaughter have been informed about his current situation."

Zerinn trembled in emotion; his father was dying, the stern jackal he'd known all his life was dying, the reality of the situation didn't seem real, that his father who he believed could never be injured was now on death's doorstep. Zerinn felt numb all over following the nurse down the hallway heading towards a small door labeled 213.

The nurse opened the door allowing the four jackals to step into the room under the close watch of a female rabbit nurse let them in her head was bowed. In the middle of the room, Cassius rested on a small bed hooked up to several monitors.

The only sign Cassius still lived was the slight movement of his chest rising and falling his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths the heart monitor on the small stand

"As you can all see, I don't have long left to live," Cassius whispered faintly. "It appears I made an error in choosing Dune as the future leader of the Jackal Squad; he's far too cowardly to become the next leader of the Jackal Squad. From now on Zerinn will lead the Jackal Squad."

The silence fell in the room. Dune growled feeling the angry tears prick at the corners of his eyes. With a yell of frustration, he shoved past Zerinn barging out of the room slamming the door behind him the sound left Zerinn stunned.

"Yes!" Kaito shouted in excitement forgetting to be quiet at the moment hearing the nurse make a shushing noise shooting him a disapproving glare. Cassius weakly scowled in his dying state the gesture wasn't as intimidating it usually was before he weakly reached down to pick up the sword gesturing to Zerinn to come forward claiming his birthright.

"This sword is yours now," Cassius said hoarsely "It is the symbol of leadership within the Jackal Squad. Also, I want you to stop being friends with that wolf. He will turn on you sooner or later."

Zerinn hurried over to grab the sword freezing when he heard his father's bitter words Kaito paused the small smile fading away, looking up at his father frowning. The quiet atmosphere became tense when Cassius finished his speech. Zerinn turned to his father pinning his ears back.

"What do you mean that Wolves are liars and thieves?" Zerinn demanded in anger. "Gadget and Mikhail are our friends, and they would do anything to betray us."

"I was so naïve when I was your age," Cassius said so softly Zerinn strained his ears to hear what his father had to say. "I befriended a wolf just like you and I thought he would always have my back, but one day he proved me wrong by stabbing me in the back and left me to rot. If it hadn't been for Flint's father who found me that day, I would've died. Never trust a wolf Zerinn."

"You're lying" Kaito cried out the sting of tears racing down his face. "You're saying that to be horrible!"

The young jackal opened the door running out of the room ignoring his older half brother's shout to come back. Zerinn shot a venomous glare one that was enough to make an average citizen flinch, but Cassius returned the stare unflinchingly.

"I'm only telling the truth Zerinn."

"Rot in hell old man," Zerinn spat. "Gadget and I will be friends until the end of our days."

"So, you claim," Cassius said faintly. "Well, one day you'll have to face the truth then, it's a shame I won't be around anymore to see the pain in your eyes when he does betray you."

Zerinn paused for several minutes noticing his father's eyes closing hearing the heart monitor flatlining confirming his father's death. The jackal hurried down the hallway his breath coming out in short gasps of anger. Even in his dying moments Zerinn breathed in and out mentally counting to ten before he looked back at the closed door to his father's room.

Zerinn stalked to the hallway preparing to comfort Kaito pushing the doors open to the waiting room where he spied Kaito sitting hunched in a chair with Gadget passing the younger jackal several wads of tissue to the younger jackal wiping at his eyes sniffling fiercely.

"Hey, Kaito I'm here, and things are going to be okay," Zerinn said soothingly rubbing a hand in soothing circles on Kaito's back. "Ignore what dad said about Gadget and Mikhail. There's no way that they're ever going to betray us."

"Kaito told me that Zerinn's the new leader," Gadget said looking around the waiting room. "I'm happy that you're the new leader and I wanted to be the first to congratulate you. Dune stormed off somewhere. There is no way Mikhail and I would ever betray you."

"Somehow I knew you would say that Gadget," Zerinn said smiling. "In case you're wondering, my father, passed away, several minutes ago."

Ace, Flint, Saber, Nephthys, and Mikhail came over to Zerinn to offer their congratulations and condolences for the loss of Cassius. The mood in the waiting room became less tense Zerinn listening to his friend praising him. Zerinn looked over at Gadget the red wolf was smiling. Zerinn allowed the faint smile to appear on his face.

"Quartz should've been here with us," Saber spoke softly. "He would be so happy for you Zerinn."

Everyone fell silent in the room knowing that Quartz would have been so happy to hear the news that Zerinn was the leader and it was a small muted celebration in the waiting room.

* * *

Sonic let out a low huff pacing back and forth on one of the walls that overlooked Shamar with Tails next to him scanning the horizon for any signs of Eggman the fox's tails twitching restlessly. Both reassured the citizens they would keep an eye out for Eggman's forces.

"So, there's no doubt that Robuttnik will be back for the Chaos Emerald," Sonic said frowning. The hedgehog raised a hand to shield his eyes from the setting sun. He spied a round shape in the distance causing Sonic to narrow his eyes.

"Thanks for sticking up for me against that jackal," Tails said eager to change the subject. "That jackal wasn't nice though; I can't shake the feeling he'll someday cause trouble in the future for everyone on Mobius."

"Yeah, that jackal is a bad influence," Sonic said. "I have a feeling that we'll run into them in the future."

The quiet, tranquil evening turned into chaos with several EggRobos swarming the city as Sonic came face to face with Metal Sonic the weight of his robotic counterpart crashed into Sonic. The force of the impact sent Sonic skidding dangerously close to the wall's edge as he grabbed on to the ledge just grabbing on to it in time.

"Sonic!"

Tail cried out lunging out to grab Sonic pulling him back up by the arms. For a few tense moments, Sonic hung in the air suspended until Tails pulled him up his feet touching solid ground. Sonic exhaled in relief. The whoosh of Metal Sonic's jet engines alerted Sonic to noticing Metal Sonic making a beeline for the citizens of Shamar.

"Eggman is attacking!" One of the terrified guards screamed in fear. "This is not a drill and protect the citizens at all costs!"

Sonic growled hearing Eggman cackle the scientist smiled broadly enjoying the citizen's suffering.

"I'd told you would be back with an old friend Sonic!" Eggman cackled looking over at the destruction the Egg Robos causing. "If you want this to an end, all you have to do is to hand over the Chaos Emerald!"

Eggman took off laughing into the distance. Sonic and Tails exchanged a silent look before they nodded heading in pursuit of Eggman determined to stop him from endangering even more lives.

Meanwhile back at the hospital, the jovial mood ended when a sheep Mobian burst through the doors panting out of breath. The building shook with the force of the impact from the Badniks running around on the upper floors.

"Eggman is back, and he's attacking Shamar!" The sheep cried out in panic. "We need any capable fighters to deal with the Badniks. Please, we need all the help we can get."

Zerinn felt all eyes falling on him as the jackal met the gazes of his now future squad. Zerinn breathed in mentally preparing himself. In the heat of the moment, Zerinn knew that he had to prove that he could be a leader.

"Alright, Jackal Squad now is the time to prove ourselves!" Zerinn cried out catching the attention of the rest of his squad. "It's time to fight back and show that fat man we're not afraid. Gadget and Mikhail we need you two to stay here and make sure that no robots will get to the patients. Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"

The small group consisting of the Jackal Squad tore out the hospital doors heading into the streets mowing down all the approaching Badniks with Zerinn at the head of the Jackal Squad the short crimson sword in his hand destroying robots. In the heat of the moment, Zerinn was determined to prove he would be a better leader than his father.

Dune weaved in and out of the fleeing citizens from the onslaught of Eggman's Badniks patrolling the area. The young jackal hurried over to the guardhouse noticing that most of the guard's absence. There was an eerie stillness in the air his ears twitched for any more sounds. Dune heard the banging on the cell doors signaling that most of the prisoners remained trapped in their cells.

"No, no, please!"

A terrified scream split the air, the followed by the sound of something contacting the guard's chest followed by an eerie stillness. Dune crept forward pushing the door open the small shaft of light fell on the scene in front of him. Chad and Mara stood with their backs turned to him blood flecking their fur and clothes. Both of them held onto knives coated in blood, the red substance dripping down onto the tiled floor. On the floor lay the bodies of the dead guards their eyes staring sightlessly up at the ceiling.

"Heh, now that was too easy," Chad sneered kicking the dead body with the heel of his shoe the sadistic grin never leaving his face. Mara turned around noticing Dune flinching. The jackal's muzzle flecked with blood as she let out a menacing chuckle.

"Well, look who we've got here Chad," Mara snarled all traces of good humor gone from her face. "It was all his fault we ended up here in this hell hole."

Chad stalked over to Dune with a low growl the bloodstained knife held at his side glaring at Dune who backed away. The older maned wolf held the knife in between two of his fingers a hand shooting out to grab Dune with one hand pulling the jackal close to him the sneer forming on his face.

"It was your fault, that we ended up here due to your first plan failing," Chad said with a snarl holding the knife closer to Dune. "It's your last fault that the last plan you came up with caused Aster to bail on us."

Dune allowed a small smirk to form on his face. Hearing the news that Aster bailed on his so-called friends didn't surprise him. Dune got the feeling the coyote wasn't a reliable friend.

"Oh, this time it'll work I promise," Dune said with a small smile. "I can handle Zerinn, and that little red wolf will be all yours to kill. We're both going to get what we want. The deaths of both Gadget and Zerinn."

Chad and Mara hesitated for a few moments the two of them leaned their heads close to each other whispering to each other. Dune didn't have to wait long until both of them turned to Dune before Chad reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"We'll help, but this we better not end up in another prison left to rot," Chad snarled.

"It won't this time," Chad replied. "So then I think we have a deal."

Chad and Dune shook hands as the three of them ignored the carnage going on within Shamar's walls as the three of them decided to act out their plan and Dune knew that it would finally allow Dune to get rid of Zerinn once and for all.

* * *

Quartz paused spying the small clouds of smoke rising from Shamar frowning slightly in concern. Behind him lay the dead bodies of three of the hedgehog squad lay still on the ground. In the end, the Hedgehog Squad had been nothing, but a band of small-time thieves, at first sight of trouble the leader had fled along with four other hedgehogs leaving three of them to die.

Quartz fought back to keep the excited flutter in his chest. The small group would be heading back to Shamar. Deep down Quartz hoped he would be with his friends once more and the thought caused him to smile.

"Hold on everyone," Quartz said smiling. "Your big brother is on his way back to you guys."

High up in the night sky the brightest star illuminated the inky black skies offering a faint beacon of hope. The group of small jackals rushed across the desert sands heading back to Shamar.

* * *

 _Author's note._

 _I know that this was more of a cool down chapter, but it does reveal the reason as to why Cassius hates wolves. Cassius has never let go of that feeling of betrayal that was inflicted upon him by his former friend, and he fears that Gadget is going to do the same to Zerinn._

 _Dune is now angry and bitter that Cassius has decided to choose Zerinn as the new leader of the Jackal Squad. He now wants revenge for being humiliated. Having Gadget snap and attack him was something I've always planned for and it was satisfying for Gadget because Dune crossed a line by saying his parents died to get away from him. Mikhail is protective of Gadget, and it's the main reason he punched Dune in the first place._

 _Chad and Mara finally make a reappearance. At this point in the story, they have had enough of being made the fools and now that they've killed other Mobians the next time they encounter, Gadget the result may end badly for Gadget and Mikhail._

 _I'm aware that Sonic, Tails, and Eggman didn't get to do much in this chapter, but with Metal Sonic entering the scene in this chapter I do intend for Sonic and Tails to have another battle against Eggman. Also, Eggman lost all of his robots in the last attack on Shamar, and now Eggman is back with reinforcements and this time he is determined to take over Shamar._

 _Sonic and Zerinn do have a low opinion of each other due to Zerinn saying that comment about not needing a father hurt Tails' feelings since it's all, but implied that Tails doesn't have any parents and Sonic saw that comment as an attack on Tails._

 _As per usual constructive criticism, thoughts and reviews are appreciated and welcomed as always, and I will see you guys with the next chapter sometime next week._


	13. A new journey

_Author's note, First of all, I'm sorry for the delay to this story a lot of things came up such as a new job and I actually developed a bit of a writer's block with this story, but I'm back now with a new chapter for you all._

 _As always I have to give a big thank you to Fanakatsuki, Reciprocate, Guest, Turquoise Triangle and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for the reviews. You support genuinely does mean a lot to me and gives me the motivation to keep going with this story._

Also, I have to give a thank you to One Nutty Author, and samuelfoti 03 for leaving a follow. Also a thank you goes out to Reciprocate and Jet The Fox for leaving a favorite on this story. I genuinely appreciate the support.

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

The sound of explosions occurred all around Shamar. G.U.N troops ran all over the town aiding in the evacuation process guiding the citizens out of the city while a small unit held back Eggman's robots. The humans formed a barrier allowing several citizens to breathlessly thank them before racing out of Shamar to wait outside until it was safe for them to return to their undoubtedly destroyed homes.

Sonic broke into a run hearing the roar of Metal Sonic's engine right behind him. Sonic skidded through the tightly packed streets the force of Metal Sonic slamming into him nearly knocked Sonic off his feet. Sonic got between Metal Sonic and the citizens preventing Metal Sonic from attacking any of the citizens. Screams of panic rang out through the night air, seeing the Egg Robos rushing across the skies firing of several lasers blasts scoring small holes in the carved stone walls leaving scorch marks all over the walls.

Sonic ran around the square a tight knot formed in his stomach spying a small hedgehog child on her knees in the middle of the streets calling out desperately for her mother. In the crowd Sonic, saw a flash of brown fur which he assumed was the girl's mother frantically pushing past citizens to reach her child. Metal Sonic turned in the air alerted by the child's cries.

Sonic felt his heart freeze already guessing Metal Sonic's intentions. The robotic counterpart to Sonic hovered in the air before he dove on a collision course heading straight for the young girl who looked up at the last moment her eyes wide with terror witnessing her impending death.

"Oh no, you don't Metal Sonic!"

Sonic curled up spin dashing into Metal Sonic landing a direct hit to Metal Sonic his feet kicking hard against the metallic shell, the force of the kick knocked Metal Sonic away from the young girl. Sonic stood between the girl and Metal Sonic. Sonic charged at Metal Sonic spin dashing into the robot for the second time sending Metal Sonic skidding across the dirt road leaving gouges in the soil. Sonic quickly picked up the little girl running over to her mother looking at the scene with a relieved expression her daughter was safe.

"Get your daughter to safety!"

The mother hedgehog uttered a breathless thank you. Sonic set the girl on the ground. Her mother took her by the hand running back to the safety of the crowd vanishing in amongst the panicking citizens. Metal Sonic got to his feet fixing his red optics on Sonic. The robot's aggressive stance made it clear Eggman's prized creation wanted Sonic dead.

"So I know that you're looking for me Metal," Sonic said his voice like ice. "You have some real nerve about to attack a defenseless little girl. Did you forget that I'm your true target bolt brain?"

Metal Sonic's answer was to rev his engine making a beeline straight for Sonic. The hum of a plane's engine cut through the air. The flash of red against the nighttime sky slamming through the Badniks destroying them as Tails pulled the Tornado around to provide whatever help he could to Sonic.

"Sonic, look out!" Tails' shout caught Sonic's attention. "Metal Sonic is coming at you from your left!"

Sonic moved out of the way heeding Tails' warning hearing the whoosh of Metal Sonic's engine. The hedgehog ducked out of the way. Much to his dismay Sonic wasn't fast enough, feeling the tips of Metal Sonic's digging deep into his flesh hoisting him into the air, Sonic kicked out landing several hits against Metal Sonic's fighting the iron-clad grip. The robotic counterpart turned his head regarding Sonic his fingers slackening. There was nothing more all Metal Sonic longed to let Sonic fall to his death.

"Well, Sonic it's quite the predicament that you're in," Eggman cackled. The mad genius showed up in his Egg Mobile grinning at his arch enemy's predicament. "Well then unless you want to go for a fall, you'll hand over that Chaos Emerald. I know either of you's bound to have it. Once you hand over the Chaos Emerald, I'll leave this town peacefully you have my promise!"

"Don't do it Tails!"

Sonic called out feeling the razor-sharp claws of Metal Sonic dig in even deep causing the dark red blood to flow underneath his skin the small droplets began to trickle down Sonic's arm. Tails growled in anger at the sight of his adoptive brother hanging limply from Metal Sonic's cold grip.

"I don't have all night Sonic and Tails!" Eggman called out in a false jovial tone the menace behind his voice was clear. "Your choices are one of you gives me the Chaos Emerald, or I drop Sonic to his death."

"You're sick Eggman," Sonic growled narrowing his eyes his lip curling ever so slightly. "We're not going to surrender the Chaos Emerald to you."

Without warning, Sonic yanked his arm free screaming in agony feeling Metal Sonic slice his claws along his arm plummeting towards the ground. Tails pushed hard on the throttle of the tornado diving beneath Sonic the hedgehog flipped himself upright landing on the wings.

"If you don't hand over that Chaos Emerald, you've given me no other option," Eggman chortled. "Metal Sonic do it."

Metal Sonic charged at Sonic in a speed of blue light slamming into the hedgehog knocking him out of the wings of the Tornado sending Sonic plummeting down towards the ground for the second time in a row.

Metal Sonic pursued Sonic seizing his chance to pluck the Chaos Emerald out of Sonic's hands lunging to strangle Sonic with his other hand. The blue hedgehog's lightning quick reflexes kicked out at Metal Sonic seeing a glimpse of the Tornado landing feet first onto the surface of the plane's wing. Tails breathed out a sigh of relief at having saved his adoptive brother from plummeting to his death.

Metal Sonic began another dive heading towards Sonic glaring up at him crouching down into a fighting stance, ignoring the steady flow of blood leaking from the lacerations dripping blood along the peach fur of Sonic's left arm.

"Leave him, Metal Sonic!" Eggman called out catching the robot's attention who let out a low series of beeps in protest. "We've got the Chaos Emerald, and we don't need to linger here in this dump of a town any further."

Eggman activated the Egg Mobile taking off into the air. Metal Sonic, shot one last venomous look at them both he sped off after his creator into the darkening sky heading off to parts unknown.

"Sonic, we've got to go after Eggman!" Tails said urgently noticing the steady trickle of blood leaking down Sonic's arm. "But what about the citizens of Shamar? We can't just leave them like this!"

Sonic hesitated his lips curling upwards in a scowl. Sonic turned his head spying several of the G.U.N agents were destroying several of the EggRobos. It wasn't the just the efforts of the G.U.N forces. Amongst the crowd, Sonic and Tails saw the black and white shapes of the Jackal Squad stood out amongst the crowd hacking down any robots running towards the citizens. Sonic inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hate leaving them alone, to deal with the robots," Sonic grumbled clenching his fist. It was clear to Tails that Sonic wasn't happy about leaving them. "I have a feeling that G.U.N and the Jackal Squad can take care of things here. We've got to stop Eggman's plan."

It was with reluctance that Tails turned the Tornado around resuming their chase of Eggman. Sonic turned his head slightly glancing one last time at Shamar.

"I sure hope that red wolf is going to be okay. Everyone else too," Sonic said with a hint of concern in his tone.

"I hope so to Sonic," Tails responded sadly glancing back. "But we have to deal with Eggman now, and maybe we'll run into that red wolf again someday."

Sonic nodded as the Tornado shot through the cold desert night air in their pursuit of Eggman heading over the desert sands vanishing into the inky black skies.

It was carnage when Aeolus skidded to a halt in front of the entrance grasping a cobalt blue scimitar in his hands aware of his squad spreading out behind him. The albino jackal took in the scene of devastation all around him his jaw set int a tight grimace taking the sight of the screaming citizens.

"Well, Quartz, it looks like that we got here in the nick of time," Aeolus said eying the carnage the grim smile on his face. "All right, men listen up! We're not here to play around," Aeolus called out. "If we take out the Badniks, then we'll get a large sum of money for saving these people. Move in for the kill!"

Quartz moved forward with the squad hacking their way effortlessly through the few robots that remained. Quartz jumped into the air throwing out several Kunai scoring direct hits on the robots destroying them. Quartz landed on the ground his eyes scanning the area searching for any signs of his friends.

"Come on guys, where are you?"

Quartz waded into the melee destroying more robots in his path when he saw a flash of black and white fur. Quartz spied both Kaito and Zerinn fighting side by side together with Nephthys and Saber focusing their attacks on the robots. The way that all four of them moved together they were already fighting well as a team. At that moment Quartz decided it was time to make his entrance. Fenrir and Hela weren't too far away dealing with another group of robots. Quartz thought he spied a glimpse of Gadget, and Mikhail heading in the direction of the hospital.

"Leave some for me!" Quartz called out the small smirk appearing from the shadows, the wide smirk never leaving his face. "Sorry that we're so late. Aeolus decided to come back to lend a hand and get some money as well."

Zerinn looked up seeing a flash of black and white fur as Quartz appeared from the melee a small smile on his face. Fenrir and Hela let out gasps of surprise at the sight of their fellow member's return.

"Quartz! You're back!"

Kaito flung himself at Quartz wrapping his arms around the older jackal's waist burying his head in Quartz's chest giving him a brief hug. A little nervous chuckle escaped Quartz's lips reaching down to pat Kaito on the back knowing that the youngest member of the Jackal Squad was the most affectionate. Zerinn noticed the exchange the small smile lined his face.

"It's good to see you again Quartz," Zerinn said smiling. "A few things have happened since you were forced to join someone else's group."

Quartz found his gaze drawn to the crimson red shortsword clasped in Zerinn's fingers the small knowing smile spread across his face. There could only be one reason as to why Zerinn would be holding his father's sword.

"So, I take it your dad realized, that he made a mistake choosing Dune then?"

"Yeah he did," Zerinn replied not turning his head. "I'll fill you in what's happened since my dad handed over to that white jackal. For now, help us deal with those robots."

Quartz nodded running into the fray throwing several kunai the sharp blades destroying them effortlessly. Quartz briefly glimpsed the warm smiles on Nephthys' face as he fought alongside her.

Gadget raced through the streets his eyes darting back and forth attacking the Egg Robos. A dull boom sounded from the hospital as his eyes darted around spying the shape of Eggman's Egg mobile speeding away with the Tornado in pursuit.

"Well, it's clear that Eggman's got what he's wanted," Gadget growled punching a small fist into the palm of his hand. "It's just a few robots; we can handle it."

Several Egg Robos turned around fixing their visors on the small hospital. An icy pit of dread formed in Gadget's stomach. Most of the Shamarians had gone off to repel Eggman's Badniks leaving the hospital virtually undefended leaving the patients inside at the mercy of the Badniks. Zerinn wasn't too far away hacking down the Badniks with Kaito at his side the robots sliced in two.

Gadget activated his grappling hook slamming into the robots as Mikhail lunged out with a small knife hacking away at the robot's outer shell.

"Mikhail, someone needs to get back to the Hospital!" Gadget's cry alerted Mikhail getting his sibling's attention who turned his head. "We need to protect the patients, and that includes Cassius."

"Zerinn, wouldn't agree with you," Mikhail replied kicking out at one of the approaching Badniks. "Knowing him he would be happy to let his father die, and honestly I want to kill him myself for striking you."

"Well, it would be wrong to let him die," Gadget argued back fiercely clenching his fists." You know it would since I won't let anyone else die."

Gadget broke into a run ignoring Mikhail's shout racing back towards the entrance to the hospital. Mikhail broke into a run following his younger half-brother in pursuit seeing several Badniks about to storm the hospital. Gadget ran on ahead his breath coming out in short gasps. There was a flash of red and black fur running ahead of him effortlessly destroying the robots.

"Ah, thank you!" Gadget cried out skidding to a stop the smile fading from his face making eye contact with Chad, Mara, and Dune.

"Oh I'm not sure that you should even be thanking us at all," Chad grinned holding onto the long dagger the tip of it dripping with crimson blood mixed with oil landing on the cobblestones. "Besides you still owe us one, for what happened outside of Saharais a month ago. I said that we were going to go wolf hunting and prepare to die Eggman lover!"

The three of them stood between Gadget and the entrance to the hospital the small cruel smirks plastered on their faces eying Gadget with malice. Gadget swallowed nervously feeling the tight lump in his throat. In a lightning strike, Chad lashed out with the dagger slicing across Gadget's arm tearing through fur and skin. The wolf let out a pained yelp feeling the hard kick to his stomach knocking the wind out of him as he hit the ground hard.

"Gadget!"

Mikhail lunged at Chad as Dune stepped forward elbowing Mikhail in the side smirking upon hearing Mikhail's pained yelp. Mara landed a kick to his chest sending him sprawling on the ground. Everything everywhere hurt, Mikhail let out a yelp of pain feeling the dagger slicing across the back of his fur causing blood to well up along the new gash on his back.

"The Eggman lover has a new friend," Mara sneered stepping towards Gadet making sure to step on Gadget's hand hearing the pained gasp. "So then where's your other friend? I guess that he took off on you."

Gadget tried to rise feeling Mara place a foot on the small of his back. Dune had pinned Mikhail down face first on the ground his fingers wrapped around the fur around Mikhail's head with Chad circling Mara to kneel down on one knee making eye contact with Gadget.

"So, then I don't see Zeirnn anywhere, and it was fun while it lasted," Chad kicked out at Gadget's mouth prompting a pained yelp. "But sadly all good things must come to an end. Do you and that hybrid freak have any last words?"

Gadget stared up at Chad his eyes drawn to the knife clenched in Chad's hands.

"Get your damn foot of him you asshole!" Zerinn cried out running up to Chad elbowing Chad knocking him away. Dune growled viciously at Zerinn lunging for him with the small knife. Zerin sidestepped the mad charge raising the tip of his sword deflecting the crazed knife stab away from him as he sidestepped tripping Dune up sending him sprawling to the ground.

"You're not fit to be the leader!" Dune howled in anger. "It should've been me all along. You're going to end up killing everyone in the Squad!"

Zerinn said nothing pinning Dune down keeping his arms pinned to his side ignoring the thrashing howling jackal beneath him. Zerinn for once in his life wasn't going to respond to Dune. Dune struggled to get to his feet throwing hurtful words at Zerinn who ignored his older brothers' words. Quartz raced from behind Zerinn tackling Mara to the ground knocking her away from Mikhail.

"A jackal doesn't attack another jackal!"

Quartz ignored Mara's cry tackling her to the ground holding her wrists behind her back. Chad let out a yelp of pain as Zerinn wrestled him of Gadget kicking him hard int he chest pointing the tip of his sword at Chad hearing the yelp of fear coming from Chad who held up his hands in a pleading gesture. The silence fell over the area as Zerinn kept one eye on Chad, turning his attention to Gadget.

"Are you okay?" Zerinn asked softly. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"Just a little Zerinn and is Mikhail okay?" Gadget asked in concern seeing Mikhail pulled to his feet with Quartz wrapping a protective arm around the younger jackal.

"I'm okay Gadget!" Mikhail cried out slipping away from Quartz's grasp running over to throw his arms around Gadget drawing him into a tight hug.

"That's a relief, I thought that we were both going to die," Gadget whispered drawing his sole surviving family member close to him. The brief gentle embrace was interrupted as several guards came running through the streets heading in the direction of the hospital quickly surrounding Dune, Chad, and Mara, the three of them were pulled to their feet.

"Drop your weapons now, or else," The lead guard spoke not lowering his weapon. "We'll have to put Chad and Mara on trial for murder, and it's unlikely that you'll see them both ever again and I suggest that their accomplice needs to be placed under a more careful watch by his parents."

The guards dragged a protesting Chad and Mara away from the group and Gadget couldn't believe it. Just like that his two biggest tormentors were gone. The wolf felt nothing, but relief that his tormentors were never going to harm him ever again. Gadget closed his eyes in relief feeling Mikhail gently embrace in a silent gesture of comfort.

Several hours later passed ever since Eggman's attack. Cassius lay back on the bed with Sera and Oasis who had arrived form Saharais the former looked disgruntled as always as Cassius listened to the explanation of the events that'd occurred and the small scowl formed on his lips when he'd learned of Dune's arrest. All of the Badniks lay in the streets, and Dune sat on a hard chair with his hands tied together with a loose piece of rope.

Aeolus stood there in the room his eyes darting over to Quartz who was happily talking with the rest of the Jackal Squad. The white jackal looked to be lost deep in thought having decided on something as he let out a low sigh unfolding his arms turning his attention towards Quartz returning the gaze.

"Well, then I have a feeling that Quartz will be happy being back among his friends," Aeolus spoke seeing the looks of joy appearing on Kaito's face. Quartz turned to look at Aeolus in shock. The news was unexpected.

"Wait, leader do you mean it?"

"Of course I do, Quartz," Aeolus said with a small smile. "Cassius only gave you to me because his spoiled brat demanded it."

Dune flattened his ears remaining silent refusing to respond to anyone. Zerinn glared at Dune the hatred evident in his mismatched eyes. Gadget looked over at the dejected young jackal. Dune lifted up his head before letting it sink to his chest in utter dejection.

"That old idiot's making a mistake making Zerinn the leader of the Jackal Squad," Dune suddenly lifted his head glaring at Zerinn. "He's weak and pathetic. He'll get everyone in the squad killed one day."

Everyone in the room ignored Dune's words with a few looks of disgust thrown in Dune's direction. Dune avoided eye contact choosing instead to glower at Zerinn.

"So, then we'll have to live in Shamar now," Cassius said in a disgruntled manner turning his attention back to Zerinn. "Son, what I'm about to say is that I could be wrong about your friend, but I'll tell you what happened between my former friend and I. His name was Marcus. When I became the leader of the Jackal Squad, Marcus was at first happy for my success, but as time went on, he asked to join the Jackal Squad. I refused his request, and he attacked me in return resulting in my scars."

"Gadget's not like Marcus," Zerinn rebuked. "I'm not going to repeat your mistake. We'll rest here, and tomorrow evening we'll move out. The sooner I'm away from you all, the better."

Cassius naturally settled for glaring at Zerinn letting out a low huff shaking his head from side to side. Zerinn gently tapped Gadget on the arm as the two of them left the room quickly followed by their friends.

Aeolus and Cassius were speaking in low tones with each other. The white jackal kept a moderate level tone while Cassius spoke aggressively. Sera said nothing as Dune lowered his head shooting Gadget one last glare. Gadget paused in the doorway resting a hand on the frame hearing Cassius raise his voice drowning out whatever it was Aeolus had been about to say.

"Zerinn is going to destroy the Jackal Squad with his reckless actions!" Cassius shouted raising his voice. "He will be a terrible choice for leader and that wolf will betray him. I should've killed that wolf the second I saw him. He's corrupted Zerinn as I feared he would."

Gadget hurried away from the door heading down the hallway away from Cassius' anger. Gadget trembled to wrap his arms around his chest. Cassius's words shook the young wolf down to the core.

A small grey hand gently placed itself on his back rubbing circles soothingly on the crimson fur. Gadget turned around spying Mikhail standing there feeling Mikhail s. An ugly purple bruise stood out against the grey fur on Mikhail's chest. The look of concern in his brother's light blue eyes was enough for the wet tears to slip out from Gadet's eyelids.

"Gadget, are you okay?"

"I'm not," Gadget sobbed rubbing at his eyes. "You don't think I would ever betray Zerinn do you?"

Mikhail paused to think about Gadget's question still rubbing his hand soothingly over Gadget's back.

"Ignore that old jackal," Mikhail said at last his tone fierce. "There's no way that you're ever going to turn on Zerinn. He's just saying all of that stuff to upset you."

"I know he is," Gadget whimpered the two half-siblings leaned into each other in a gentle embrace. Cassius' cruel words stuck deeply into Gadget making him afraid that he would betray Zerinn someday and the thought made him feel ill.

The next day brought a flurry of activity as the rest of the Jackal Squad made preparations for their trip into the desert to continue their training. The warm evening sunlight rose up over the horizon as Gadget, Zerinn, Mikhail and the Jackal Squad stood at the entrance to Shamar. The gentle chilly winds blew in overhead with the sun beginning to set over the horizon. Zerinn cast one last look back at Shamar with his squad behind him. Quartz had been welcomed back to the Jackal Squad as the small group stood to look out over at the setting sun beginning to sink below the horizon.

"Well, this is it Jackal Squad," Zerinn turned to face the rest of his squad. "There's no going back now, and Gadget and Mikhail are part of this squad now. Wherever we go, I promise that we will become the best mercenary Squad Mobius will have ever seen."

There were cheers at Zerinn's statement. Gadget felt nothing, but pride and happiness at his friend's speech. Perhaps he was overthinking Cassius' words. Zerinn looked satisfied, and under his leadership, the Jackal Squad was going to do well, and they would become the best mercenary Squad.

"This moment calls for a photo with all of the squad!"

The small group of jackals agreed with the statement. Roscoe held up a small camera he'd kept on him. Quartz, Saber, Nephthys, Gadget, Zerinn, Kaito, Fenrir, and Hela gathered together with Zerinn slinging an arm over Gadget's shoulder. Kaito and Mikhail pressed close to their half-brothers. Everyone posed for the photo.

"Wait why are we taking a photo?"

"It's an old tradition that whenever a new leader takes command of the Jackal Squad a photo has to be taken to commemorate the event," Zerinn explained the small smile was never leaving his face."Besides I do want to share this moment with my best friend."

Gadget smiled relaxing flashing a small smile with the rest of the Jackal Squad members the bright flash of light went off nearly blinding Gadget. Roscoe pocketed the camera away. Watching the photos slide out of the camera, Roscoe held up the pictures with a rare smile on his face. Gadget was surprised seeing the scarred jackal smiling resting his katana across his shoulder blades.

"Well, this brings me back to when Cassius first took command of the Jackal Squad," Roscoe said smiling. "At your command boss and we'll head to the nearest settlement to begin the next step of your training."

Zerinn nodded heading out into the desert. The rest of the Jackal Squad quickly followed him in a single file heading into the desert with Roscoe walking alongside Zerinn guiding the young jackal on his first few steps as a leader. Gadget, found himself laughing and joking with Kaito, and Hela, the general sense of excitement among the young members of the Jackal Squad while Zerinn maintained a stoic silence leading his squad towards a new future. Meanwhile high above in the skies the brightest star shone a little brighter and yet sooner or later the most luminous star would dim over time.

* * *

Author's _note_

 _So with that **,** we are now at the end of part one. The decision to have Sonic and Tails leaving Shamar in pursuit of Eggman I intended to have Sonic and Tails depart in this chapter. If anyone's wondering when Eggman's assault on Shamar took place before the events of Sonic Adventure. However, this won't be the last time we see Sonic, and Tails since I do have plans for them to return in part two. _

_The decision to have Quartz return to the future Jackal Squad was something I've always planned to happen in this chapter. Its a heartwarming brief moment for Zerinn and the other members of the Jackal Squad since they see Quartz like family._

 _Cassius has never liked Gadget ever since he met the wolf in front of Saharais. Cassius has never let go of his hatred towards wolves as his words have hurt Gadget profoundly leaving Mikhail to comfort him._

 _Part two is going to take place six years later following an older Gadget, and Zerinn. I can't say too much about any chapters except there will be tension as things will become complicated between our characters._

 _As always constructive criticism, thoughts, and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and I will be back with the next chapter sometime within the next week._


	14. Six years later

_Author's Note. I've had a lot going on in my life lately as I'm usually even more busy at this time of year._

 _As per usual, I would like to say a thank you to TGN, Reciprocate, Turquoise Triangle and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for reviewing. I appreciate your support, and it has motivated me to get this far. I would also like to thank ReaderFever, SuperKirbyLand 234, and The Amazing Spectacular SpiderMan for leaving a favorite on this story. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _Lastly, I do have an important notice to share with everyone in the Author's note at the bottom of the page. I'm sorry about it too._

 _Without any further ado, it's finally time to begin part two, and there's going to be some heartwarming moments in this chapter._

 _Disclaimer Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to Sega. I don't own anything except for the ocs appearing in this story_.

* * *

A tranquil atmosphere settled over the city of Red Gate City. The first rays of the sun began to rise over the horizon — the rays illuminated over a small apartment situated somewhere in Sunset Heights one of the many towns mostly consisting of big houses with a prime ocean view only the reasonably well-off citizens could afford, with the downside of noisy neighbors.

The first rays of morning light filtered in through a recently repaired window. The sun's rays illuminated the dark room revealing several shapes lying on the ground huddled under a thin blanket resting their heads on an old worn pillow.

The wolf let out a low moan of discomfort at the light filtering in through the curtains, blearily opened his peering around the darkened room hearing the sounds of their gentle breathing echoing all over the male side of their sleeping quarters. Without his glasses, the world was a blurry mess. Gadget looked around the room his gaze trying his best to focusing on a grey blob still snoring softly. Gadget heard the footsteps of his adoptive mother walking down the stairs into the kitchen.

Gadget padded silently across the room his mind still trying to process the fact six years passed in what he felt like was a blink of an eye. The second the repairs in Shamar were completed his adoptive parents decided Gadget and Mikhail needed to be raised in a safe environment since they'd moved from city to city until both of his adoptive parents were satisfied with Red Gate City due to its excellent education system and its low crime rate.

Gadget and Mikhail settled in well with the other children, often coming home with good grades, pleasing their adoptive parents.

Gadget felt nothing, but the pride of his accomplishments since it meant he could build inventions without a critical eye, or a negative comment leaving his fellow Mobian's mouths. The grappling hook prototype rested on a small hook, which his adoptive mother always made sure to praise Gadget whenever he fixed the dishwasher since Gadget had a way with machines.

"Morning Mikhail," Gadget whispered. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"I did," Mikhail said warmly. "Has it been six years ever since we were reunited?"

"I do it only feels like yesterday," Mikhail said nodding over to one of the walls marked with a small line indicating how much both Gadget and Mikhail had grown over the years.

"Happy Birthday Gadget!"

Gadget looked down at the headset being pressed into his hands with Mikhail beaming wagging his tail ever so slightly along with his adoptive parents entering the room Rook slinging an arm around his shoulders Crow and Raven came the room each holding onto a small box wide smiles. Gadget smiled feeling nothing, but happiness before being adopted Crow and Raven had tried for years to have children to no avail.

"I need you, boys, to run out and get the groceries," Raven said smiling. "Crow and I will decorate the place, and we're going to have a big feast. You only get to turn thirteen once, so today's a special day."

The warm morning sunlight greeted Gadget and Mikhail, the two of them walked through the bustling city coming alive with most of its residents about to begin their day, the various buses traveled throughout the city, people sat in congested traffic jams, honking filled the air. Mikhail led Gadget down the street to the local grocery store taking in the sights of the city.

"Okay, we need eggs, milk, bread, and water," Gadget said. "Our parents want us back before seven pm tonight."

Mikhail nodded in silence, for the first time Gadget noticed his older half-brother was carrying a couple of small boxes with him, a slightly teasing smile was on his muzzle. Mikhail scanned the area until a gasp escaped his lips pointing to a small group of jackals lingering near the crosswalk the leader had a massive scar on the right side of his face.

"Gadget! Mikhail!"

A familiar voice caught Gadget's attention, and across the street, it's when he spots Kaito and Zerinn. The wolf's heart skipped several beats; both jackals stuck out like sore thumbs, the Mobians giving them wide berths eying Zerinn's scar warily before making a hasty retreat, the black and silver gloves, and boots, the long hair trailing down Zerinn's back along with the five other jackals crossing the street.

Upon seeing Gadget and Mikhail Kaito broke away from the Jackal Squad swept Gadget and Mikhail up into a tight embrace hugging both brothers tightly in his excitement upon seeing them again.

"Gadget! It's so good to see you again!"

"Kaito! It's good to see you too!" Gadget gasped from the pain of Kaito's forceful hug. "Please put me down I can't breathe."

"Sorry, Gadget," Kaito said releasing Gadget. "Its been six years, I can't believe it's you."

Zerinn drew him into a gentle embrace Gadget hugged Zerinn back noting how much his friend had grown in stature, Gadget frowned feeling the slight bulge of Zerinn's ribs underneath noticing the small muscle along Zerinn's arms and legs.

"You've grown quite a bit ever since we first met," Gadget said. "Zerinn, when was the last time you had something to eat? You look like you haven't eaten in weeks."

"That's none of your concern," Zerinn mumbled. "I picked something up for you in the last town, do me a favor close your eyes."

Gadget obeyed Zerinn's command holding his eyes out feeling something long placed into the palm of his hands. Gadget waited until he heard Zerinn telling him to open his eyes.

"Happy birthday Gadget!"

A chorus of voices echoed all over the small area. Gadget stared down at the long brown strap resting in the wolf's hands. Attached to the brown strap were four pockets running along the second belt. It almost looked like a belt for storing all types of equipment.

"What is it Zerinn?" Gadget asked. "As for my second question, did you steal it?"

"It's a utility belt," Zerinn said. "It was an extra reward from our last mission. I don't have a use for it, so it's all yours. Don't worry about getting me anything in return."

The red wolf turned the utility belt over in his hands feeling the leather between his fingers. He slipped a part of it over his shoulders feeling it becoming tangled up in between his fingers. Gadget felt the blush of embarrassment hearing Kaito sniggering slightly not in a malicious way, more of a teasing tone.

"Hold still Gadget," Mikhail said. " I'll help you adjust it."

Gadget felt Mikhail's hands reaching out for the leather carefully untangling it from his fingers. Gadget held still watching his older half brother's fingers untangling the strap from Gadget's fingers. The red wolf gently pulled it over his head setting it around his shoulders. It almost felt odd against his crimson fur, but at the same time, it felt like a part of him. Gadget couldn't shake the feeling it would come in useful one day.

"There we go it looks good on you."

Gadget turned his attention towards the store window hoping no one saw the faint blush of embarrassment fading away on his face. The utility belt did look good on him. The wolf turned around noticing the olive green boots, gloves and headset Mikhail held in his hands smiling widely.

"I got these items from our local thrift shop a couple of days ago," Mikhail said handing the boots over to Gadget. "They might be a little big, but I'm sure you'll grow into them."

Gadget slipped on the gloves and boots removing his worn shoes getting them down off to the side. The fabric felt good on his hands and feet. The material felt odd brushing against his fur since his toes didn't reach up all the way into the end of the toe cap. The wolf paused to look again in the store window. He looked older more like an explorer or better yet a hero just like Sonic.

"So, what were your plans for today?"

"We were going to do some grocery shopping, after that we were going to head home at seven pm," Mikhail said. "So, are you guys going to be living here?"

"We're going to be staying here for hopefully a couple of weeks," Zerinn replied. "We're kind of in-between jobs at the moment, so if you want to come by and visit our bunker, the door's always open if you want to come by, It's not a classy hotel it's still our temporary home."

"It's no problem Zerinn," Gadget replied. "We'll come round sometime this afternoon for a couple of hours; there's so much we have to catch up on."

Mikhail and Gadget turned around to wave goodbye at the members of the Jackal squad promising they would come by the bunker later when their errands were completed. Zerinn waved back waiting until both Gadget and Mikhail were out of sight before his smile faded to be replaced with a tight frown. Saber silently leaned towards Zerinn picking up on the waves of anger radiating from the jackal.

"I know our last job was a while ago, but we can afford to be patient," Saber said quietly into Zerinn's ear. "We still have some rations back at the bunker. With our reputation, I'm sure we'll find a job here sooner or later since just arrived here yesterday."

"Yeah, yeah rations that'll only last us a day or so at the most," Zerinn rebuked ignoring the growl of his stomach. Zerinn trained hard to prove he could lead the Jackal Squad, and he'd done that. Zerinn had built up a reputation as a mercenary going in for the kill. Saber recalled seeing the expressions of fear appearing on everyone's faces at the mere mention of Zerinn.

"Zerinn now is not the time for your anger to show," Saber spoke gently. "I know you're feeling the stress of leadership, but we're in Sunset Heights, this isn't the desert if someone here ends up dead then it'll arouse suspicion."

"I'm the ultimate mercenary and the leader of the best squad of mercenaries in all of Mobius," Zerinn said tensely. "If I can't even take care of my squad then I'll be viewed as a weak leader, I need to protect all of you."

Everyone fell silent until a low cough alerted everyone to Kaito's presence the young jackal standing there looking uncertain of what to say before mustering the courage to say what was on his mind.

"You've been able to keep us safe for the last six years boss," Kaito said softly. "We've made our mark in Mobius, we're the most feared squad around, people tremble at the mention of your name. You're the best leader in the history of the Jackal Squad."

Several cheers followed Kaito's statement. Zerinn felt his whole body beginning to relax. He drew Kaito into an embrace whispering a swift thank you into his younger half brother's ear finally breaking the embrace hearing Ace suddenly speaking in a hostile tone.

"So, are we really going to let that wolf come to our base?"

Zerinn pivoted on his heel noticing Ace approaching him his usual relaxed expression replaced by a tense scowl his tail twitching in agitation. The other jackals took notice of Ace's aggression Kaito silently stood next to Zerinn eying Ace warily his small dagger held out at his side in case he had to use it.

"You're giving that wolf too much freedom," Ace snarled."That's what Cassius did with Marcus. Your dad foolishly trusted him. Marcus took advantage of that trust and backstabbed him when he least expected it."

"Gadget is my friend," Zerinn replied tensely. "Ace, I'm not getting soft, so there's no need to panic. Besides the less, he knows what we've been doing the better. He wouldn't understand why we had to do those things, and he's not a snitch."

Ace glared at Zerinn before marching away muttering curses underneath his breath tail lashing. Zerinn frowned ignoring Kaito's worried voice asking if he was okay. The jackal walked alongside the bustling city streets ignoring the rumble of his stomach. Feeling entirely at ease upon reuniting with his best friend heading to explore some new territory. He would never break his friendship with Gadget, no matter what would happen in the future.

* * *

Author's _note I know that this chapter is a bit shorter than the last few chapters. I'm well aware that its a filler chapter and not a lot happens in it. Right from when I wrote up the outline to this story I wanted to build on the relationships within the Jackal Squad while giving an origin of where Gadget and Zerinn got their utility belt and scarf respectively._

 _The reason Ace is slightly hostile to both Gadget and Mikhail is becuase he has a disdain towards wolves in general due to Marcus betraying Cassius. Iris isn't as hostile towards Gadget, and Mikhail like Blade and Roscoe are, but she does have a slight distrust towards wolves as well._

 _Now and I'm sorry to say this especially that I've resumed work on this story, that there will be no update to both the Wolf and the Jackal, and the Illusionary Resistance next week. Its due to me helping out with a fundraiser, which is part of the summer activity program this coming weekend. I also have to help out with an event at one of my workplaces. It means I won't have a lot of time to sit down and write chapters, and I'm sorry for the delay._

 _As per usual any form of constructive criticism/thoughts and reviews are appreciated and welcome as always._


	15. Fragments of tension

_Author's note I have to apologize for both the delay with this story and my inconsistent update schedule due to being busy with helping out with the yearly summer activity program. Here is the next chapter without any further delays._

 _As per usual I like to give a thank you to Fanakatsuki, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Turquoise Triangle and SharpDragon Klaw for leaving a review. I have to thank all of you guys for the support and motivation for me to continue this story._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

The big bustling city with its bright flashing lights, Mobians walking on the sidewalks going about their daily business were bizarre to the Jackal Squad, mostly due to Zerinn's insistence they avoided cities due to their mercenary lifestyle. The warm early summer heat was a far cry from the blistering desert heat and the cold nights, Zerinn still couldn't shake away the unease creeping down his spine at his surroundings. There were far too many Mobians for Zerinn's liking.

The jackal glanced back to gauge his squad's reactions. Kaito shifted his weight from foot to foot, Ace, Quartz, and Saber scanned the city with slightly hostile expressions on their faces warning away curious onlookers who scurried about muttering a quick apology before running away to get far away from the jackals.

Nephthys scowled at a white-scaled crocodile who took the hint running away. The big scar on Zerinn's face was more than enough to tell the residents to keep their distance from the group of weary jackals.

"So, boss, what's our next move?" Quartz asked breaking the silence.

"I'll admit running into Gadget was a bit of a surprise," Zerinn said. "For now we're going to celebrate his birthday. We're going to gather some food, and then we'll meet back at the bunker to give Gadget a birthday he'll never forget. Kaito, see if you can find them and try not to get lost in this city."

"On it, Boss!" Kaito cried out breaking into a run heading into the vast city. Zerinn pushed down the small nagging feeling Kaito was going to get himself lost within the bustling place, Zerinn turned around meet Ace's gaze with a slight frown on his face.

"Heh, that's all well and good boss," Ace said. "So, how are you going to explain, all the killing Mobians, stealing and raiding than to Gadget? I don't think he's going to take the news that we're a bunch of killers for hire lightly."

Zerinn paused chewing his lip nervously his brain struggling to come up with an answer until he inhaled. Ace was known as the realist within the ranks of the Jackal Squad, Often Zerinn found himself

"If Gadget doesn't like what we're doing, then it's his problem, not ours," Zerinn said icily. "Besides, none of us can afford to show any form of weakness. Also, its survival of the fittest. Now we'll have to do a bit of stealing to survive in this cruel world."

The jackals fell silent upon hearing Zerrinn's words the group of jackals made their way towards the nearest grocery store silently moving together as a unit. Zerinn glanced back at the city seeing a few curious glances sent their way. Zerinn longed to cut them down, to make an example to show what happened to those who got in the Jackal Squad's way.

For now though keeping the members of Jackal Squad safe was Zerinn's main priority, it was his burden to bear as the leader of the Jackal Squad, and no one harms his squad, that was a promise Zerinn was determined to fulfill.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gadget and Mikhail having completed their errands having returned to the home they shared with their adoptive parents informing them they were going to be meeting up with some friends, before heading back into the vast city. In a stroke of good fortune Kaito met up with them, the three of them headed back to the bunker when they noticed a series of blight flashes going off in the distance with a large crowd pushing their way into the square eagerly.

"Something's going on over there," Mikhail said frowning. "Must be a big news conference or something."

The pair of half-brothers found themselves at the back of the milling crowd. Gadget stood up on the tips of his toes briefly glimpsing Sonic standing on the stage with Tails by his side holding his hands out for silence flashing a cocky smile.

"It looks like Sonic's here!" Gadget cried out unable to hide his excitement.

In the silent agreement, the trio of Mobians made their way down through the crowded streets. Gadget bumped into a sheep by accident as she turned around to glare at him eying Kaito warily. Kaito stiffened immediately his hand reaching down for his flamberge his fingers touching the surface of his blade jaw set in a tense frown.

"Excuse me miss, but can you please tell me what's going on?"

The sheep hesitated to keep an eye on Kaito a small scowl formed on her face with Kaito returning the scowl pulling the corner of his lip up in a sneer. Gadget mentally weighed the pros and cons of directing the sheep's hostile glare away from Kaito.

"Have you guys been living under a rock or something?" The sheep asked bluntly. "Sonic and his friends put an end to another one of Dr. Eggman's plans. I think his prized creation Metal Sonic went rogue or something like that."

Excitement seized Gadget's heart. It may have been six years since he'd last seen Sonic since due to moving from city to city. Gadget and Mikhail hadn't kept up with the recent news and having a jackal standing next to them where jackals usually didn't show themselves in towns or cities.

"We've recently moved into the area," Kaito answered firmly."None of us have even had the chance to catch up with the news."

"Well, that's typical then," The sheep muttered. "Good luck getting close to the stage. It seems everyone wants to cozy up to Mobius' hero."

An irritated sigh came from the sheep muttering something low underneath her breath, choosing to ignore the wolf. Taking a sudden step back a pair of children running through the group with their mother chasing them. The small group pressed even closer to the edge of the large crowd muttering apologies whenever they accidentally jostled someone. Gadget saw a hastily constructed podium with Sonic and Tails waving to the mass of citizens. Sonic was in his element answering several questions from a cat reporter.

"Yeah, basically Metal Sonic overthrew Eggman, and tried to seize control of Eggman's Empire," Sonic said smiling. "But we stopped him with the real superpower of teamwork, kicked his metallic butt and saved the day as usual."

The crowd ate up Sonic's words as Tails nudged Sonic in the side. Everyone noticed Sonic appeared to be more at ease giving out interviews, though Sonic seemed impatient to be heading out on his next adventure.

"You had help from all of us," Tails said grinning. "It wasn't just Knuckles and I. We had team Chaotix, Team Rose, and Team Dark, helping us too. They also deserve some of the credit."

"Tails and I invited Amy, Cream, Big, Espio, Charmy, and Vector, but all of them declined," Sonic frowned slightly. "We also tried to contact Team Dark, but we couldn't get a hold of them. In all seriousness, if they hadn't aided us in the final battle, against Metal Sonic, I don't think any of us would be standing here right now. So I extend a humble thank you to the members of Team Rose, The Chaotix and Team Dark for their help."

At the end of Sonic's speech, everyone applauded praising Sonic's words as more camera bulbs flashed in rapid succession. Sonic swept his gaze all around the area, pushing spying a flash of red fur, hearing the reporter calling out to the hedgehog.

"So what happened to the third member of your team Sonic?" The question came from a mink reporter. "Also, when do you think Eggman will launch his next assault?"

"Knuckles went home to Angel Island," Sonic said. "Big noisy crowds aren't his thing, anyway. Well, I'd imagine Eggman's busy licking his wounds. I don't think we will hear from him soon. I'd imagine he'll be back with another scheme to take over Mobius, but your local hero will stop Eggface's plan like he always does, that's a promise."

Gadget felt a tug on his shoulder tilting his head towards Mikhail as another round of applause went of for Sonic. Mikhail gently tugged on his shoulder again nodding towards Kaito already heading off into the distance. Pushing his way through the crowd hearing a few grumbles of resentment some Mobians glared at the jackal muttering low under their breaths.

"We should go check on Kaito."

The brothers made their way through the crowd hearing one of the reporters stating it would be broadcast all over Mobius as Gadget and Mikhail caught up to Kaito waiting for them. The trio walked away from Park Avenue heading back to Green Hill Zone.

"It was a surprise that a news conference was being held all the way at Park Avenue," Gadget said. "It's too bad we didn't have time to talk to Sonic though. I wondered if he would recognize both you and me, Mikhail."

Mikhail nodded in agreement at Gadget's words. Kaito ran ahead of Gadget and Mikhail. Gadget broke into a run noticing the sullen expression on Kaito's face. The excitement over seeing Sonic again faded away upon seeing Kaito's unhappy state the young jackal barely even looked up jumping slightly in surprise feeling Gadget's gentle touch against his shoulder glancing back witnessing the expression of concern on the wolf's face.

"Kaito are you okay?" Gadget queried. "Did that sheep say something to upset you?"

"I'm not okay," Kaito snapped irritably. "It's not like what that stupid bitch said, affected me you know. It's not my fault every single Jackal on Mobius are cold, ruthless mercenaries. We're trying to survive in this world, and they sit around in their homes well pampered, they wouldn't last a day out here."

Gadget and Mikhail recoiled shocked by Kaito's words. Ever since the young jackal was now Zerinn's second in command, there would be times where he would share Zerinn's sentiments on the current state of the world leaving him angry and bitter. It was a far cry from the energetic young pup who'd shaken water everywhere during their first meeting and wholly believed Gadget would take his older brother away.

"Hey, Kaito just ignore what she said," Gadget whispered. "If there's one thing I've learned not every jackal is bad. Sure Zerinn and everyone else in Jackal Squad may be a little rough around the edges, but we're family. You're the least cold and ruthless jackal; I know dusty tail."

Gadget felt Kaito's shoulder relax the jackal turned towards him raising a hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes. A shudder passed through Kaito's body before a gentle touch rested on his shoulder. Kaito quickly pivoted on his heel facing Mikhail smiling, softly.

"Gadget's right," Mikhail said. "You're one of the least mean jackals out there. You can't let other people tell you since you're our adoptive brother along with Zerinn. We're your friends; nothing will ever change that."

Kaito said nothing in response drawing them into a tight hug burying his head Gadget's shoulder. Mikhail embraced both of his adoptive brothers holding them tightly. Kaito let out a few low sobs. The group hugged Kaito for several more minutes until Kaito gently pushed them both away wiping at his eyes a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, guys. Both of you knew how to help me," Kaito said smiling. "Beehive's waiting for us back at the bunker."

Gadget and Mikhail chuckled at the mention of Zerinn's nickname, resuming their journey back to the Jackal Squad's base sharing stories. The further they left the square Gadget noticed Kaito's shoulders relax the jackal walking forward with a small smile on his lips.

* * *

Zerinn heard the distant shouts behind him sprinting through the packed streets his arms weighed down with the heavy sack filled with food, the warm savory smell of the meat made his stomach rumble with hunger allowing the jackal to salivate slightly. It didn't take long for the Jackal Squad to lose their pursuers hiding away from the small crowd running past their hiding place.

"It's a shame they weren't wolves we robbed," Ace spoke up haughtily. "The meat they were selling smells delicious though, I can't wait to get back to the bunker so we can have a real feast."

Flint chuckled in response. "Yeah, I'd wish they'd been wolves too. I mean they're wimps and cowards."

Zerinn gritted his teeth in response hearing the leather of his gloves creak. It would lead to awkward questions since Gadget hated innocent people who'd lost their lives for no reason at all. Zerinn had the feeling the result would be an argument breaking out between Gadget and him.

"Ignore them," Nephthys whispered in Zerinn's right ear. "They're doing it to provoke you to attack them. When we get back to the base, promise me you'll eat something."

"You're not my mother Nephthys," The words slipped from Zerinn's lips without thinking. "My real mother was weak because she died, leaving me alone in the care of an abusive monster and siblings. Besides my father used to say a fat mercenary is a dead mercenary."

Nephthys silently observed how much weight Zerinn had lost over their long career as mercenaries. She was all too aware of how hard mercenary life was, but she had to keep a steady head on her shoulders, in case she needed to stop Zerinn from doing something which would endanger them all.

Shouts alerted Zerinn to Gadget's arrival the trio of Mobians stood gazing up at the Gadget's group arrived at the medium sized run down old building.

The windows had long been shattered, graffiti lined the surface of the walls, and a damp musty odor hung in the air making Gadget's nose wrinkle from the smell indicating no one had bothered to clean the building in a long time.

"Its not much, but it's home," Zerinn said noticing Gadget's unease. "As I said, it's a temporary home until we move on to our next location."

The group made their way inside the bunker, the lights flickered dimly, making their way to a small dining room a medium-sized wooden table had already been set up with several cracked plates. Nephthys removed a small chocolate and vanilla cake from her sack setting it down on the table along with several matches and a small bottle of water set along next to the plates.

"Oh, that smells good boss," Nephthys said reaching in to claim a piece of beef. "It's well cooked."

"Make sure you get something to eat as well boss," Mikhail said. "Mmm, this is good meat, where did you get it from?"

"We got it from a grocery store," Zerinn lied. "Before you ask Gadget, no we didn't steal it, Nephthys was able to buy it on a special discount along with the candles."

The jackal opened the sack reaching down to grab a small piece of meat taking a quick bite out of it chewing savoring the taste of juicy beef swallowing it with passing slices of the warm meat to Flint, Ace, Saber, Quartz, Gadget, Mikhail, Kaito and Nephthys. Silence fell over the room the Jackal Squad settled in to enjoy their meal, along with the casual conversation.

Nephthys got up heading to the small table set in the candles of the cake lighting the candles with a lighter before picking up the cake carrying it over to the Jackal Squad.

"Happy birthday Gadget!"

Gadget looked down in surprise at the chocolate and vanilla cake with thirteen candles. The wolf inhaled before he blew out the candles to the cheers of the Jackal Squad. Everyone sat down at the table. Gadget swiftly removed the candles the smell of vanilla and chocolate caused his stomach to rumble noticing Zerinn was putting pieces of meat and vegetables on each of the plates. Quartz filled up the glasses with fresh spring water. Zerinn lifted the glass in his hand in a toast.

"To Gadget and Mikhail, a pair of trusted and valued friends of the Jackal Squad!"

Everyone followed up Zerinn's proclamation, along with a round of applause. Gadget took a bite of the small chocolate cake savoring the sweet taste of the vanilla. Around him, the rest of the Jackal squad tucked into the meal. For once Gadget noticed Mikhail sitting next to him on his left eating the cake., In the wolf's mind, this was the best birthday he'd ever had. It made him realize he wasn't alone anymore.

"All I wanted was to have friends, and family with me six years ago, shortly after my parents died," Gadget quietly said. "I'm so glad to have found it in the Jackal Squad and Mikhail as well."

The small celebration went on until the sun began to sink below the horizon, Gadget lingered at the doorway looking over at Zerinn giving him one last wave before he followed Mikhail back home to celebrate his birthday with their adoptive parents. Ace waited until Gadget and Mikhail were out of earshot before approaching Zerinn to voice his concerns.

"Boss, I hope it won't be the same thing that happened between your father and Marcus," Ace said gently. "He's going to make you look like a fool when he inevitably betrays you."

"Gadget's not going to turn on us Ace," Zerinn replied. "Besides he's far more loyal then Marcus will ever be. We've been searching for six years now, and once we find him, he's dead."

Ace looked back at the bunker entrance with Zerinn entering the building his tail thudding the ground in agitation. A small tight was frown forming on his face. For the last six years, Zerinn made it his mission to hunt down Marcus to end his life. Ace couldn't ignore the nagging sensation that Zerinn's drive to become Ultimatemate Mecerenary would cause the bonds within the Jackal Squad to fracture.

* * *

 _Author's note I'm well aware that the last couple of chapters were filler and short, but things will be picking up again in the next few chapters. One of my headcanons is that jackals are one of the least trustworthy races of Mobius, due to their nature of backstabbing their clients if they can't afford to pay them. It's one of the reasons Kaito became angry. I wanted to highlight the bond Gadget, Mikhail, Zerinn, and Kaito have with each other._

 _Zerinn is beginning to show signs of his discontent with the world since the friendship Zerinn has with Gadget is slowly going to fracture. The reason Ace and Flint hold a slight hatred towards Gadget, and to a lesser extent, Mikhail stems from the fact Cassius taught them to hate wolves._

 _As per usual thoughts/ constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always. I will talk to you guys next week with the next chapter._


	16. A chance encounter

_Author's note, First of all, I want to apologize that this chapter was so late. The reason for the delay was due to the site experiencing some technical difficulties around the time I uploaded this chapter._

 _Also, I like to give a big thank you to everyone for over 25 follows. For everyone that's either left a favorite, follow or be even viewing this story, I want to say thank you all so much._

 _As always I'd like to give a thank you to Fanakatsuki, Turquoise Triangle, Kyeblade Writer of the Dawn and SharpDragonKlaw for leaving a review. Your support genuinely means a lot to me as it motivates me to keep going with this idea._

 _A thank you goes out to muddy leaf for favoriting and following the story. I genuinely appreciate the support, and I'm glad to see you're enjoying the story._

 _I don't have anything else to say except let's get on with the chapter, and all I can say about this one is a couple of unwelcome characters makes a reappearance and trust me no one is going to be happy to see them again._

 _Disclaimer It's the same as the previous chapters. I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

Far out in the desert, a pair of figures trudged through the sandy landscape before arriving at a bus stop. Aster scanned the area a small satisfied smirk forming on his face his ears were pricked listening for the sound of the approaching bus, juggling a pair of rings between his fingers.

Dune paced impatiently next to Aster, clasping a small old worn out wanted poster between his fingertips making eye contact with Aster, a slight frown playing at the corner of his lips. Aster scowled at the jackal standing his ground holding onto a small knife clasped between his fingertips waiting for the right time to use it.

"You know, Dune, you've got a lot of guts for bringing me this information," Aster drawled. "You're lucky I'm not going to kill you where your stand. So this Marcus had the gall to betray your father?"

Dune took several steps silently unsheathing a knife pressing it against Aster's throat. Dune kept the blade pressed against the fennec fox's neck tracing a thing line allowing a thin trickle of blood to stain Aster's fur crimson. It was a silent warning of how Dune would go in for the kill when Aster least expected it.

"I'm not the scared coward when we last met six years ago," Dune sneered. "Yeah, it sucks I'm no longer the leader of the Jackal Squad. Instead, I found my calling in becoming the leader of our hometown, I've killed more Mobians then you could count on your fingers."

Aster looked down at the aggressive look in the pair of bright yellow eyes before Dune stepped back with a huff keeping his blade lowered at his side. Aster found himself impressed with the young jackal's bravado. For starters, he wasn't afraid to go for the kill a far cry from the whimpering child he'd met in the desert campsite six years ago.

"Show this poster to my brother," Dune said icily. "I'll be heading back to the village. I had to pay a lot of money to get a hold of this information. I'm surprised you didn't demand the release of your friends."

"Chad and Mara are no longer useful to me," Aster replied smoothly. "In the end, they turned out to be useless pawns that didn't live up to potential. I don't need their help in killing the Eggman lover or you freakish brother."

Any further conversation between Dune and Aster ended when the fennec fox noticed the bus pulling up to the bus stop the doors opening with a hiss the wolf driver turned to face the two passages briefly glancing at them.

"Sir, you do know weapons aren't allowed on this bus," The driver spoke with a hint of a tremor in his voice. "If you're going to ride this bus to Sunset Heights, then I'll have to ask you to dispose of your weapon."

"He's not riding this bus, I am," Aster said firmly. "Don't breathe a word of what you've seen to anyone, got it?"

The bus driver meekly nodded reluctantly allowing Aster to climb on the bus the doors closing behind the fennec fox, before with a lurch the buss took off into the distance with Dune watching the bus go. Aster was nothing more than a pawn to the vengeful jackal longing to take his revenge on his brother.

"If I know you all too well Zerinn it's going to be your anger that will destroy the Jackal Squad."

Smirking Dune turned on his heel heading back the way he came glancing up at the moonlit sky allowing a chuckle to escape his lips. If something went wrong with his new plan well a few more dead bodies would be worth the price.

* * *

The next moring's light caused Gadget to stir from a restful slumber opening his eyes gazing around at a blurry landscape before yawning reaching out for his glasses putting them on his snout turning to look at the clock reading 8 am. The wolf stifled another yawn pushing back the sheets standing up on his feet the warm, sweet smell of pancakes floated up the stairs to the room the brothers shared, as Gadget descended the stairs heading into the kitchen.

Aria stood at the stove flipping a pancake up in the air catching it in the pan flashing Gadget a warm smile. Mikhail slipped on a pair of gloves picking up the rubbish bag slinging it over his shoulder carrying it out of the kitchen greeting Gadget with a good morning.

"Good morning honey," Aria said warmly. "Mikhail's doing the trash and after you've had breakfast, can you please do the dishes?"

"Yes mother, it's no problem."

Gadget moved to the sink glancing out of the window he saw Mikhail down the steps only to stumble on the last step crashing to the ground with a pained yelp followed by the rubbish bag tearing open spilling rubbish everywhere.

Mikhail lay on his back groaning from the pain pulling away the boot revealing his slightly sprained ankle. Mikhail attempted to sit up only to fall back with a yelp on the ground.

"Mikhail!" Aria cried out running out of her home, over to Mikhail's side bending down pulling at the boot covering Mikhail's left foot exposing the slightly swollen limb. "Cairo, call an ambulance, Mikhail's hurt his ankle! Gadget you need to grab an ice pack and pillow now!"

Gadget raced out of the house his heart in his mouth running to Mikahil's side a small crowd of anxious Mobians gathering around Mikhail; a grey rabbit told the crowd to back away from Mikhail who lay there on the ground moaning in pain. Gadget and Aria raced over to Mikhail clasping an ice pack and a pillow the urgency of the situation was all too clear.

"Put an ice pack on his foot," Aria instructed Gadget. "Gently though and keep him calm. Make sure to elevate his ankle to relieve the pain. Cairo's calling an ambulance, which will be here soon."

"I'm sorry mother, I should've been more careful in looking where I was going," Mikhail said softly. "I misjudged the step, and I slipped."

Gadget sank to his knees slipping his hand into Mikhail's hand squeezing it gently. Cairo pulled back Mikhail's boot pressing the icepack against the swollen flesh. One of the Mobians slid a pillow underneath his head. "Mikhail, it's going to be okay, the ambulance will be on its way soon."

"Yeah, I hope so too," Mikhail gasped out wincing from the letting his head rest against the pillow.

After several minutes Cairo exited the house sinking to her knees, rubbing Mikhail's hand reassuringly. Several minutes passed the siren of an ambulance cut through the air, the vehicle pulling up to the curbside the nurses exiting the ambulance carrying a stretcher between them hurrying over to where Mikhail lay on the ground picking him up carefully placing him in the vehicle before it sped off towards the hospital.

"Come on we're going too," Aria said hurrying over to the small ford parked in the driveway, the three wolves piled into the car following the ambulance to the hospital. Aria gripped the steering wheel tightly her knuckles turning white. Non one spoke in the car since all they could do was hope Mikhail was going to be okay.

An hour later Gadget found himself sitting in one of the reception chairs next to Cairo who reached out to touch Gadget's hand squeezing it reassuringly. The smell of medicine was heavy in the air with several Mobians sitting down in the reception area waiting to be called for their appointments. Gadget shifted uncomfortably on the hard plastic chairs he was starting to develop a dislike for hospitals.

"I'm sure Mikhail will be fine," Cairo said reassuringly

"Mr. Cario and Mrs. Aria?"

The pair of wolves stood up along with Gadget as a bird nurse approaching them with a clipboard and a pencil.

"Is Mikhail going to be okay?" Aria asked anxiously.

"Yes, he will be okay. It's a minor ankle sprain since he's still in the X-ray room. It will be a while before he can receive visitors. It doesn't look he's fractured his foot, but still, he's lucky to have such caring adoptive parents."

Gadget heard the sighs of relief coming from his parents Aria sank back into the chair relief plastered on her face. Cairo wrapped draping an arm around her shoulders placing a tender kiss on his wife's forehead. Gadget joined in the warm embrace before they broke apart with smiles on their faces.

"Why don't you go get Mikhail a get well card?" Cairo asked smiling.

"Of course, and please tell Mikhail I'm so glad to know Mikhail's going to be alright."

Gadget held out his hand feeling the weight of the rings placed in the palm of his hand before he exited the hospital the warmth of the midday sun gracing his face, the wolf walked along the bustling streets in search of a stationary shop.

A half hour later found Gadget exiting the stationary shop with a plastic bag containing a get well card hearing a shout. Gadget turned around towards the direction of the shout noticing Zerinn and Quartz hurrying over to them with smiles plastered on their faces.

Zerinn paused tilting his head noticing Gadget's half-hearted greeting. "Gadget you look like someone's kicked you while you were down. Did something happen?"

"Mikhail got into an accident, and he sprained his ankle. They're still performing an X-ray to make sure nothing's fractured."

Both jackals paused with Quartz reaching out to give Gadget a sympathetic pat on the shoulder with a small smile. Quartz made a low noise of sympathy reaching forward to pat Gadget on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear about Mikhail," Zerinn said smiling warmly. "Perhaps if you want to grab some lunch you're more then welcome to join us. "I'm sure Mikhail will appreciate the gesture."

Gadget smiling followed the two jackals touched by the unexpected gesture of kindness from the other two jackals. No matter what happened in Gadget's life, he knew he could be able to count on Zerinn's support.

* * *

Gadget, Quartz, and Zerinn hung around at the back of a bakery waiting for lunch according to Zerinn. Gadget's stomach rumbled at the mixture of aromas coming from the bakery door. From their hiding place, a click of the door to the bakery opened as a brown and white dog descended the steps setting down some boxes a sweet aroma wafted from the containers in the dog's hands made Gadget's stomach rumble in hunger.

"Not yet," Zerinn said placing a hand on Gadget's shoulder. "We're both hungry, and besides most of the citizens here are well fed enough."

For a few minutes, Gadget and Zerinn waited until they both ran forward with Zerinn picking up two of the boxes ripping off the delivery label hoisting them into his arms passing the second box into Gadget's arms seeing a startled expression on the wolf's face.

"Zerinn what are you doing?" Gadget queried panic in his voice.

"Shut up and run!"

Gadget forced himself to sprint with Quartz and Zerinn trying to ignore the panicked shout echoing through the air. The bakery door opened allowing a brown and white dog to chase them across the cobblestones. Gadget turned his head catching a glimpse of a pleading expression in the dog's lime green eyes.

"Please stop! Those were an order from a customer!"

"Well, you shouldn't have left them lying around!" Zerinn rebuked grinning. "Maybe you'll think twice before setting your property outside in the streets!"

Gadget hesitated to hear the dog pleading with them his voice on the verge of tears. The wolf glanced at Zerinn's back seeing the jackal turn to meet his gaze a small scowl forming on his muzzle already guessing what his best friend intended to do. Quartz glowered briefly at Gadget shaking his head before sprinting ahead.

"We've got to get back to the bunker with this food," Zerinn said. "Don't even think about it Gadget. We need this food to survive. The citizens living in their luxury homes don't need it."

Decision made Gadget skidded to a stop aware of Zerinn's shout turning to pass one of the two boxes into the dog's arms. Gadget handed over the box to the strange dog panting in relief at the unexpected gesture of kindness.

"I'm sorry we stole these from you," Gadget said softly. "I'm not going to steal from this place ever again. Sorry, I couldn't get the other two boxes back, and my name is Gadget. What's your name?"

"It's Russell," The dog answered frowning. "Since you were honest enough to return some of the stuff you and your friend stole Gadget, I won't identify you as one of the thieves. Although if you want some advice, I suggest you find some new friends to hang around with."

After finishing his sentence, Russell turned on his heel smiling heading back to the bakery. The sound of the door closing behind him along with the sound of the muffled voices echoing from within the building. Gadget felt a light tap from Zerinn, with a fierce scowl on his face gestured in the direction of the bunker. The two of them set off at a fast walk carefully balancing the boxes in their arms.

"Gadget you're an idiot!" Zerinn snarled in anger."We're in a strange new place, and the first thing you do is hand someones' goods back to them. It's going to be harder for us to steal what we need since this place is going to be on the lookout for a group of jackals from now on."

"Take someone else on your raid next time Zerinn," Gadget snarled. "If we're going to steal from innocent people then I don't want any part of it."

"That's fine with me. I'll be sure to take either Kaito or Quartz the next time we go on a raid since they're not going to complain about stealing from other Mobians, unlike you weakling."

Gadget nodded in silence ignoring Zerinn's barbed comments. Gadget picked up the box of donuts handing it over to Quartz the two jackals ran away down the streets. Sighing Gadget began the long trek back to the hospital passing by the bakery once more glimpsing Russell at the window waving along with a small friendly smile. The wolf waved back with a broad smile. Gadget didn't see the harm of making friends with Rusell; it would be nice to make some other friends perhaps he could introduce him to Mikhail once he was out of the hospital.

 _Besides, you wouldn't have to feel like you were on thin ice all the time with Zerinn._ Gadget thought to himself. After today I'm not even sure if I want to be his friend anymore.

A tight knot formed in his stomach the wolf shook away the lingering doubt about his and Zerinn's friendship. He felt relief that Mikhail was going to be okay for now. The wolf-headed back towards the hospital still carrying the get well card clutched in his fingers.

* * *

It was late evening by the time Quartz and Zerinn returned to the bunker; Quartz wisely chose to stay clear of Zerinn making an excuse he needed to polish his knives. The rest of the Jackal Squad picked up on the fact something happened. Ace, Nephthys, and Kaito paused in their cleaning making their temporary home more presentable looking up to see Zerinn standing there frowning setting down the box of donuts along with some other packages of food they'd stolen.

"Boss, just so you know we've got a job offer," Flint informed Zerinn. "A few minutes ago, when I was out on patrol a cat Mobian came up to me saying that there's someone here in Sunset Heights who has information on Marcus' whereabouts."

Upon hearing the news, Zerinn couldn't fight the wide grin splitting his face, upon hearing the name of the Mobian who'd betrayed his father all those years ago.

"We're going to be heading out to meet with our client," Zerinn informed the rest of the Jackal Squad. "Quartz, Sabe, and Flint come with me. The rest of you stay here; we can't leave this place unguarded."

"I want to come to!" Kaito cried out. "Marcus hurt our Father too; I want to help you get revenge on him!"

"You're staying here with Nephthys and Ace," Zerinn said firmly. "Kaito, you're a skilled fighter, but I need you to stay behind and keep an eye on things here at the base. There's no telling how dangerous things are going to become, and I don't want you getting hurt!"

"I can still fight!" There's no way I'm staying at the base, and playing housekeeper while you confront a traitor!"

"Enough of this nonsense Kaito!" Zerinn snarled at Kaito realizing his mistake shrank back. "I'm not about to have my younger half-brother endangering himself on this mission. You're staying here!"

Kaito fell silent staring at Zerinn defiantly. "I hate you."

Before Zerinn could say anything, Kaito pushed past Zerinn darting to the small living quarters the squad members shared opening the door before slamming the sound echoing all over the bunker.

Nephthys took a step forward worry etched on her face. "Zerinn, should I check on Kaito to make sure he's okay?"

Zerinn sighed deflating the tension leaving his shoulders. "I think the best thing to do is to leave him alone for a while so he can calm down. Saber, Quartz, and Flint let's go; we're wasting time standing around here."

The group of four jackals left the bunker in silence. Zerinn glanced back at the shelter ignoring the guilt forming a tight knot in his stomach before pushing it down. "He'll be okay; I can't risk endangering him."

Not one of the four jackals noticed one of the windows opening nor did they see Kaito slipping out crouching low to the ground ducking into several bushes pressing himself flat to the ground. Saber quickly turned to notice one of the bushes rustlings his instincts told Saber someone was in the bushes watching their every movement.

"Saber, come on we're wasting time!"

After an hour's trek, the four jackals encountered Aster standing on the side of the corner flashing them a sinister smile upon making eye contact with the Jackal Squad.

"Hey, there Jackal Squad long time no see," Aster said grinning. "Surprised to see me?"

Zerinn stiffened along with Quartz and Saber. Quartz reached for the knives hanging along the sash a snarl contorted his facial features into a fierce expression. Saber unsheathed his tomahawk. Zerinn silently folded his ears back a fierce growl forming in his throat upon recognizing Aster, the same fennec fox who'd kidnapped Kaito six years ago.

"I remember you," Zerinn glowered. "You used to hang with that maned wolf and jackal who kidnapped my brother," Zerinn snarled, taking several steps forward, gripping his sword tightly, his knuckles turning white underneath the gloves. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice you in half."

"I've heard a little a rumor that you're looking for a wolf named Marcus," Aster said smirking. "I've heard he's become the new leader of the Wolf Squad. I also wanted to apologize for kidnapping your brother. So, can I count on the Ultimate Mercenary, or are you going to chicken out?"

Saber waved Zerinn towards him; the jackal glanced at Aster suspiciously. Saber turned his head to look at Zerinn, gauging his leader's reaction to the question. Zerinn pulled back his lips a fierce snarl contorted his face, clasping his sword's hilt tightly.

"So, it's your call Boss; you're going to accept the mission, right?" Saber asked. "Even though this monster kidnapped Kaito, which led to him almost getting killed by Dune?"

Zerinn grimaced at Aster, extending a hand towards him to shake. Zerinn hesitated, the gears of his brain shifting until he made his decision.

"We'll do it," Zerinn replied coldly. "But if there's even the slightest hint of any funny business from you, then I'll have my squad kill you first."

Aster nodded, holding out his hand for Zerinn to shake; the two hands clasped together in a silent promise. The Ultimate Mercenary didn't need to look back to hear the angry mutters coming from Saber and Quartz. Saber shook his head no with Quartz reaching out to touch Saber's shoulder to reassure his squadmate not to say anything rash silently.

Aster smirked leading the way towards a stationary jeep climbing into the driver's seat with Flint sitting next to him. Zerinn, Quartz, and Saber climbed into the back of the jeep. The three jackals remained silent, not willing to speak to the treacherous fennec fox.

Over the roar of the jeep's engine, no one noticed Kaito creeping low behind the vehicle taking a running leap climbing into the boot of the jeep wriggling underneath the cover a small smile gracing his face.

Kaito pressed himself to the floor of the jeep. Kaito's ears pricked picking up on the conversation between Flint and Aster coming from the front of the vehicle.

"Zerinn is our leader now, so you shouldn't pull any stunts with us," Flint warned Aster. "In case you weren't aware, two of your former friends are in Shamar's prison. It's unlikely they're ever going to see the light of day again."

"Heh, you're funny," Aster replied cockily. "They were never my friends. The only reason I befriended them it was because we had so much fun tormenting those who were weaker than us. Speaking of which how is the Eggman lover faring these days?"

"Any information I have about Gadget is none of your concern," Zerinn sneered. "If you're trying to lure us into a trap I'll kill you myself."

Aster smirked choosing to ignore the threat climbing into the passenger seat. Quartz claimed the driver's seat glaring daggers at Aster. Zerinn and Saber sat in the back of the vehicle. The sound of the engine ignited drowned out the conversation coming from the jeep in front of them. No one in the second jeep said anything. A tense silence spoke volumes of the crumbling family bonds formed by the Jackal Squad. Saber realized Zerinn's desire for revenge would be the signal for an impending storm in the future.

* * *

Author's _note Whoa I can't believe this chapter turned out to be longer then I thought it would be, but I'm pleased with how it came out. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well._

 _The names of Gadget's and Mikhail's adoptive parents are Cairo and Aria. Cairo is the more laid back of the couple, and Aria is the more protective one in their marriage. Aria tends to be overprotective over her adoptive sons, even with Mikhail's injury she wanted to make sure Mikhail's sprained ankle wasn't fractured._

 _Gadget holds a stable moral code mostly thanks in part to his adoptive parents teaching both him and Mikhail right from wrong. Zerinn, on the other hand, has been conditioned by his father that the strong will always overpower those who are weaker then they are. It won't be the first time that there will be even more tension between Gadget and Zerinn forming cracks in their once strong friendship._

 _I intended to introduce Rusell who is from the Illusionary Resistance in this story. Before the events of the Illusionary Resistance Russell used to work as a baker under a strict employer who punished his employees if they ever lost any of the bakery's goods._

 _After all, this time Dune and Aster make their return. Dune still holds a grudge against Zerinn for becoming the new leader of the Jackal Squad_

 _As per usual thoughts/constructive criticism and reviews are appreciated and welcomed. I will see you guys for the next chapter when it comes out next week._


	17. Murder in the night

_Author's note Hello everyone I'm back at last. With the summer activity program has come to a close, I'm finally free to get this fic back on it's weekly updated schedule, and I want to thank everyone for being patient with me throughout the summer. Here's the next chapter as a little present from me to all of you._

 _As always a big thank you goes out to Turquoise Triangle, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn and Fanakatsuki. Your reviews and support genuinely do mean a lot to me. I'm also motivated to see this story through to the end since we're only seven chapters away from this fic coming to a close._

 _Warnings blood, violence and one of the characters suffering from an emotional breakdown related to the said incident. If the last one upsets you, then you can read one of the previous chapters._

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega has full copyright claim to the franchise._

* * *

The jeep arrived near the entrance to Mystic Jungle. Zerinn was jerked awake by the sudden jolt, opening his eyes, his senses alert ready for the upcoming fight. The midnight moon illuminating their surroundings. Aster shot Zerinn a smirk exiting the vehicle. Zerinn clenched his jaw, and his lips pulled back in a scowl glaring at the back of Aster's head his fingers itching to plunge his sword into the base of the fennec fox's skull.

"Zerinn, I know you want to plunge your sword in Aster's heart for kidnapping Kaito, but for now we still need him alive," Saber whispered fiercely into Zerinn's ear."Besides, it's our chance to kill Marcus and avenge your father's pride."

Zerinn said nothing clasping his sword tightly. Aster smirked taking in delight of Zerinn's unease towards him. The fennec fox recalled with the satisfaction of kidnapping Kaito hearing him panicking, begging to be let go. Aster heard rumors that the Jackal Squad was one of the most feared squads in all of Mobius. They were said to be ruthless when it came to hunting down their targets.

A low rustle came from under the pile of blankets in the jeep alerted Zerinn someone or something was under the covers. Zerinn felt his jaw clench hurrying over to the rustling blankets feeling a lump trying to crawl away from his touch.

"Hey, Zerinn, I think we have a stowaway," Aster said icily. "Let me deal with it. You'll need all of your energy if we're going to kill a traitor."

"Don't be so quick to land the killing blow," Zerinn warned Aster. "I can only guess who our stowaway is. Someone who's about to be in a lot of trouble."

With a sudden yank, Zerinn ripped the blanket away exposing Kaito grinning sheepishly up at him, his eyes wide with guilt. Kaito kept his fingers wrapped an around a small green flamberge. Zerinn bared his teeth in anger, having gifted the weapon to Kaito on his thirteenth birthday which had been a few weeks ago. To find his young second in command out here having disobeyed his orders made Zerinn's blood boil.

"Kaito, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh please, tidying up the base was boring, and I told you I wanted a chance to prove myself," Kaito answered Zerinn's question leaving his hiding place. "Besides you and Gadget were acting weird, so I followed you guys secretly, and I jumped into the back of one of the jeeps, and hid under the blankets."

Aster heard the commotion came back sizing up Kaito. The younger jackal recoiled in surprise upon unexpectedly seeing the coyote again. Kaito still remembered being grabbed from his bed six years ago in the dead of night carried to where Dune had been waiting for him with a sinister grin spread across his face hoping to injure him with a sword. Kaito still experienced nightmares of the incident leading to several sleepless nights.

"Oh wow, some leader you're turning out to be Zerinn," Aster sneered. "You must be so weak-willed, to let your runty half-brother sneak away to a place when he was supposed to be playing house. I guess weakness runs in the family. I'll be coming back to deal with Gadget, eventually."

Zerinn made a wet snarling sound of rage picking up his sword pointing it at Aster who shrank back in fear. Zerinn grabbed Kaito by his wrist pulling to his feet ignoring the yelp of pain Kaito emitted. Zerinn slightly relaxed his grip on Kaito's wrist dragging him along the ground to a small tree out of earshot.

"Fine, you can come along Kaito," Zerinn said tensely. "However I want you to stay close to me and not to do anything stupid. Kaito this job isn't one of our normal thieving raids. Stay strong and whatever happens, don't show any weakness at all. Do you understand Kaito?"

"Yeah I do," Kaito replied sullenly. "I do hope you and Gadget make up. He told me what happened earlier that you called him an idiot for giving that guy his stolen goods back."

Zerinnn sighed in irritation mumbling something under his breath that sounded like he would. Saber stood at the entrance with Aster not too far away from Saber. Zerinn could only describe the grin as sinister on Aster's face. The coyote pointed a small machete in the direction of Mystic Jungle. Zerinn immediately took the lead, Kaito falling into stride behind him, the little group trekking through the jungle.

The trek through Mystic jungle turned out to be more arduous than anyone expected. Roscoe and Hela grumbled swatting away at the mosquitoes sucking their blood. Aster walked ahead of the group having slathered himself in mosquito repellent. When Flint asked him if he had any more mosquito repellent to share among the Jackal Squad. In return, Aster sneered at Flint informing him their leader should've brought along some mosquito repellent.

"Damn bugs!" Quartz snarled slapping a mosquito in irritation leaving a small bloodstain against the black and white fur. "I have no idea why we're even following this lying backstabbing bastard. Is he even sure that our target is even out here in this dump?"

"They have to be," Nephthys replied. "Heh. I think Zerinn's getting the worse of the Mosquito bites."

Ahead of them, Zerinn let out a low growl slapping away at the mosquito bites covering his fur. Kaito huddled next to him looking miserable slapping at the mosquitos landing on his wrists. Much to Zerinn's frustration, Aster walked ahead of them unaffected by the mosquitoes. Zerinn glowered the memories of the coyote attacking both him and Gadget outside of Saharais.

For several hours the group trekked in silence. Zerinn opened his mouth to tell Aster precisely what he thought of his shortcut towards the Coyote Squad when Aster stopped in his tracks holding his hand up for silence gesturing them to duck down low to the ground.

"We're almost upon them," stay low and don't make a crap ton of noise," Aster said. The fennec fox dropped to his belly crawling along the ground making sure not to rustle the hanging jungle fronds as the rest of the Jackal Squad did the same slowly pulling themselves forward along the ground. Hela felt a centipede crawling over her back. She opened her mouth to shriek only for Quartz to clamp her mouth shut gesturing her to be quiet.

A chorus of drunken yelling and cheering echoed all over the distance as Zerinn saw the dying embers of a campfire, along with the tents haphazardly set up. In the middle of the bonfire sat a grey wolf in his late thirties his brown eyes scanned the crowd of wolves watching him back with rapt attention. A sneer graced the facial features of the wolf his eyes scanning the group consisting of fourteen wolves spotting one who looked half awake.

"Hey, Ari, you're supposed to be on lookout duty!" The wolf bellowed in an irritated voice. "What the hell are you doing sitting around on your butt bored out of your mind?"

At his words, the wolf jumped up as though he'd been electrocuted in alarm hearing the sniggers coming from his squadmates. Zerinn looked over at the coyote who couldn't have been older than fourteen years old shifting his weight from his feet. Hurrying over to carry out his leader's orders.

"Stay still, all of you," Flint whispered to his squad mates. "If we make a simple sound, then we lose the element of surprise."

The wolf mercenary withdrew the small dagger taking careful steps towards the Jackal Squad's hiding place. His instincts screamed at him something was watching him and his squadmates quietly. In one swift movement, he lunged out with his dagger a flash of steel ran through the air striking something.

At that moment Flint let out a scream of pain tumbling out of the bushes his hands reaching forward to cover the gash running down the side of his face before he recovered making a mad charge attacking the nearest coyote slicing his throat. Quartz and Iris pursued several coyotes away from the hastily constructed campsite chasing them through the rainforest until several minutes later several high pitched screams cut through the air indicating Quartz and Iris had killed the coyotes.

"Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"

At Zerinn's command, the Jackal Squad erupted from their hiding place making a beeline towards the startled coyotes responding to the fierce charge as the two groups met in the middle of the battlefield weapons flashing, in a desperate brawl of life and death.

"Wolf Squad kill the intruders!" Marcus commanded reaching down for his knife spying the leader of the Jackal Squad notice him a snarl pulled at the corner of his lips before he broke into a run. Marcus paused in horror at the sight of the long white dreadlocks flowing out from behind his head.

The ribcage pattern on the thin jackal's sides reminded him so much of Cassius. Marcus froze in fear for several brief moments forgetting he had a knife in his hand. In one swift movement, the jackal was upon him pinning the wolf down to the ground his sword raised high in the air, pointing it above the jugular vein.

"Are you Marcus?"

Marcus looked up making eye contact with the frenzied jackal sitting on his chest keeping his sword pointed at the spot between his eyes his lips contorted into a wild expression on his face.

"I am. You must be Cassius' son," Marcus snarled. "You're practically the spitting image of him, and I've got spies all over the place, so I know he sired children. I've heard about your father's untimely death. Good riddance, that old bastard was bound to die sooner or later.

"My father's death is none of your concern Your death, on the other hand, will be swift," Zerinn replied not breaking eye contact with his quarry. "I am the ultimate Mercenary. Nothing you say will save you from your fate. Why did you betray my father?"

Marcus looked up gasping before an idea came to his mind. He would've laughed at the irony. The jackal sitting on his chest was so much like his father right down to the arrogant attitude it almost made Marcus noticed a flash of black and white fur running through the battlefield his green flamberge's tip; dripped with blood racing to aid Zerinn.

Upon closing inspection, the younger jackal had chest fur in the same place as Cassius did on his chest. Marcus quickly deduced this was the jackal's sibling running to his brother's aid.

 _You've trained your sons well Cassius._ Marcus grimly thought. _However, they're just as weak as you once were._

With a sudden surge of strength, Marcus grabbed Zerinn by the wrist effortlessly lifting the jackal of his feet throwing him into the jungle floor winding him. A heavy tread across the scattered forest foliage announced Marcus was making his way to where the winded jackal lay on his side.

"If you want to know the reason, I betrayed your father; it's simple. It's because he was too weak to even fend for himself. I see weakness truly runs in the family."

At that moment before Marcus could bring his weapon down into Zerinn's shoulder, Kaito slammed into Marcus causing the wolf to stumble slightly dropping his knife. In that instant, Marcus tackled Kaito to the forest floor, dimly aware of the sound of a weapon drawn, the cold steel tip placed across the bridge of Kaito's muzzle.

"It's a valiant effort you made just now to save your half-brother," Marcus hissed. "I'm well aware that traitorous Aster brought the Jackal Squad here to kill me. The Wolf Squad were just a group of small-time thieves until I killed their leader and whipped them into shape. I will give you a little present since daddy isn't here to save you now or your brother cannot save you now."

In one swift movement, Marcus brought the blade across the bridge across Kaito's snout. Kaito screamed in agony at the searing pain slicing across the top of his muzzle. His scream ripped through the air. The sound caused everyone from the Jackal Squad to gaze in horror at the youngest member curling up tears forming at the corners of his eyes whimpering in pain.

Marcus grinned down watching the blood welling up taking delight in Kaito's suffering. A sudden sharp pain erupted in his chest as the tip of a short crimson sword exploded through the middle of his chest. The wielder yanked the backward sword slicing through fur, skin along the sides of Marcus' ribs and vital organs.

"Marcus!"

Marcus sank to his knees turning around to face an enraged Zerinn glaring down at Kaito's attacker his lips pulled back his face contorted into a fierce snarl. Blade, Roscoe, and Iris backed away in silence terrified. Aster dropped his weapon to the ground.

"No way I thought you were too weak-"

Marcus didn't even finish his sentence slumping to the ground. Zerinn stabbed Marcus again emitting a sharp gasp of pain from the wolf. Something inside of Zerinn snapped going into a blind rage, Zerinn continued his relentless attack on Marcus to the growing horror of the crowd.

"I am not weak! I am not weak! I am not weak!"

It was a long and messy business until Nephthys took charge shouting in Zerinn's ear Marcus was dead that Zerinn finally ceased his assault on his father's former friend. In his rage, Zerinn stabbed Marcus over thirty times leaving Marcus face down in a pool of his blood. Aster shakily stepped forward all of his earlier bravado gone, his knees knocking together in fear staring at the blood-soaked jackal and the already stiffening body of the Wolf Squad's leader.

"In case you're wondering if he's still alive, he's not," Zerinn intoned coldly. "Listen up, Wolf Squad, I want you to inform every mercenary squad in Mobius, the Ultimate mercenary has eliminated the leader of your squad. The Jackal Squad is the best squad of mercenaries in all of Mobius. If anyone else thinks they can defeat us in combat, they will meet a violent end."

Zerinn's threat was made clear. The rest of the wolves turned on their heels running away into the brush leaving the dead bodies of Marcus along with three other wolves who'd fallen in battle. Zerinn hurried over to Saber's position; the jackal came away with a rag soaked in Kaito's blood, glancing up at Zerinn panic in his eyes. A loud honking filled the air as the pair of jeeps they had driven to Mystic Jungle pulled to a stop. Quartz exited the vehicle a look of panic on his face upon seeing the deep cut along Kaito's muzzle.

"What the hell happened?"

"Zerinn was fantastic," Ace said answering Quartz's question. "If only his father could have seen this. He did an excellent job in making Marcus suffer for his betrayal."

Not too far away Saber cradled Kaito keeping a blood-soaked rag pressed on the cut on Kaito's nose. Kaito lay on his side whimpering in pain. Saber gently stroked him making quiet noises of reassurance. Zerinn skidded to a stop sinking to his knees his eyes filled with concern for his brother taking Kaito's hand in his own squeezing it gently.

"I've been able to stop the bleeding boss, but Kaito's in much pain," Saber said hurriedly holding Kaito close to him. "We need to take him back to Sunset Height's hospital since he must have it stitched up. If we don't get it stitched up, he'll go into shock."

"We have no time to waste," Zerinn blurted taking Kaito from Saber's arms gently cradling Kaito close to his chest aware of his brother's pained whimpering. The older jackal lowered his head closing his eyes holding Kaito close to him. Zerinn holding onto his brother opened the jeep door carefully set Kaito down next to him buckling him as Saber, entered the vehicle next to him.

The jeep lurched forward with Kaito turning his head to gaze at Zerinn tiredly his bright yellow eyes were glazed over with pain. The raw open wound leaked sticky red blood clinging to his muzzle.

"Zerinn, I'm sorry I disobeyed orders," Kaito mumbled. "I should've listened to you and stayed back at the base. All I wanted to do was to prove myself."

Zerinn let out a low sigh gently taking Kaito's hand in his own stroking Kaito's fingers in an almost tender gesture reassuring his younger brother he wasn't angry as he saw the small tears leaking out from underneath his younger half brother's eyes.

"No, it's my fault, I never should've let Marcus get the best of me," Zerinn replied tiredly. "I won't ever let anyone else get the best of me again. That's a promise. Just cry a few tears, but not too much."

Kaito whimpered pressing in closer to Zerinn sobbing allowing his brother to clean out the open wound on his muzzle gently. Zerinn promised himself that he would let no other member of his squad get hurt like this ever again. Saber passed some wet towels to the back. Saber and Zerinn wiped away the blood stains on their body. Zerinn paused pulled Kaito close to him comforting him. As the adrenaline left his body, Zerinn felt a hint of pride entering his mind at his accomplishment at killing Marcus and sending the Coyote Squad running away in fear.

"I installed fear into those wolves," Zerin whispered to himself gleefully. "Watching those thugs turn tail running away in fear. It felt good. Soon everyone on Mobius will know who I am and soon all of them will learn to fear me."

Zerinn finished his sentence with a dark chuckle. Kaito stiffened in his arms with a scared whimper. Zerinn relaxed his grip muttering reassuring things to Kaito hoping to reassure him. Zerinn looked out of the window at the moon noticing one of the stars appeared to be less bright then it usually was.

* * *

Several hours under the glow of the predawn skies the pair of jeeps pulled up at the entrance to at Red Gate City's hospital. Zerinn climbed out of the jeep when Zerinn climbed out of the vehicle a sullen expression on his face aware of Gadget's family leaving the hospital Gadget's fur paling in horror upon seeing all the blood soaking Zerinn's fur and Kaito lying limply in Zerinn's arms.

"Zerinn, what happened to Kaito?" Gadget asked his fur pale with horror.

"An accident," Zerinn said hastily. "How's Mikhail's doing?"

"The doctors say he'll be fine," Gadget said. "They want to keep him for overnight observation. It's just a minor sprained ankle."

Gadget felt a tug on his arm with Aria shooting a glare at Zerinn ushering her adoptive son away. A couple of nurses wheeled a gurney forward one of them gently placing Kaito on the stretcher wheeling him away into the hospital.

The jackals entered the hospital with the receptionist eying Zerinn warily as a bear couple took one glance at the blood-soaked jackals. Quartz glared at them causing them to break into a panicked run the doors of the hospital closing behind them. A purple bird receptionist huffed slightly leveling the blood-soaked jackals huffing putting her newspaper down onto the desk.

"Hey, jackal, the bathroom's over there," A purple bird receptionist called out scornfully eying Zerinn distastefully. "I don't care what kind of damn bar fight you guys came out of, but some of you look and smell like shit."

"What did you say?" Quartz narrowed his eyes eager for a fight. "Come out from behind that desk and I'll-"

"Not here Quartz, let's go clean ourselves up," Zerinn said tiredly looking emotionally drained. "Besides, this is a hospital, and I'm not leaving this place until we know Kaito is going to be okay."

The group of weary jackals headed towards the bathroom. The doors slid open as Gadget hurried into the hospital with Aria hot on his heels. His hand was trembling at the thought something had gone wrong with the job Zerinn accepted. The memory of their argument from the previous day was still fresh in his mind. Zerinn tensed underneath Gadget's light touch turning his half-hearted glare onto the young wolf recoiling back from the fierce stare.

"Zerinn, I hope Kaito will be okay," Gadget said. "Please be truthful with me, did something happen with the job you guys accepted?"

Zerinn paused before he turned to face Gadget with a resigned expression on his face. There was such an earnest look of concern on Gadget's face. Zerinn was still angry with Gadget for the robbery yesterday his friend showed signs of concern for Kaito's well being despite their argument yesterday.

"I'm sorry for calling you an idiot," Zerinn replied tiredly. "Listen, can you and Mikhail not ask any questions about what happened tonight?"

Aria frowned upon hearing Zerinn's confession at having called her adoptive son an idiot. A small drop of resentment built up in Mikhail's chest. Zerinn had been aware Gadget had been a victim of bullying.

"He would never do such a thing," Aria sneered. "Besides, I'm not even sure Gadget should even be hanging around you. Jackals are nothing, but trouble after all."

Zerinn ignored Aria's hostility before heading off to the shower to rinse his blood of the fur. Gadget sighed feeling a small bubble of anxiety building up for Kaito's safety. Gadget with his adoptive mother exiting the hospital inhaling turning his gaze to the starry night sky. The wolf could barely see the stars under the bright glow of the city's lights.

"Mum and dad if you're up there please I could use some advice," Gadget mumbled. "Do you guys remember six years ago when I made a wish for a friend?" Gadget's voice cracked with emotion. "I have a feeling that our friendship is in trouble." Please, I want to know if it can survive our fight."

No response came from the stars as the wolf let out a low, sad sigh. Deep down a tight knot of dread formed in his stomach feeling a small bubble of anxiety building in his stomach.

High above the skies out of Gadget's view, the brightest star shone dimly shone losing its radiant glow. A sure sign that a chain of events which once brought two different Mobians together in an unlikely friendship was undoubtedly about to fracture.

* * *

 _Author's note This chapter was one of my favorites to write since it does show Zerinn beginning to discover his enjoyment of instilling fear into other Mobians a trait that will become a bit more prominent throughout these last few chapters. I've headcanoned that Kaito gained his scar at a young age since he saw the big scar on his leader's face he wanted a chance to prove himself. Kaito does have a habit of being reckless, and I wanted to give an opportunity to show how that recklessness gave him his scar on the bridge of his muzzle. Just like Zerinn's scar, it will never heal._

 _Marcus makes his short-lived debut after a mention in chapter twelve along with his reason for having betrayed Cassius. Marcus has always held the survival of the fittest mindset which is the reason why he targeted Kaito to attack. However, it's the mistake that led to his demise._

 _I hope people enjoyed this chapter._

 _As per usual thoughts/constructive criticism and reviews will be welcomed and appreciated. I will talk to you guys soon next week with the next chapter. I hope that all of you have a good rest of the week._


	18. New friends

_Author's note. As always I have to give thanks to Keyblade Writer of the Dawn and Sharp Dragon Klaw for reviewing this story. I'm pleased to see you're enjoying this story and thank you both so much for supporting this fic._

 _I'm going to say it that we are coming to the end of this story. While the following chapter may be short and filler, it will be setting up for the last few chapters which will showcase the changes in the friendship between Gadget and Zerinn which will also affect the members of the Jackal Squad._

 _A shout out goes out to Nebel Foxy for favoriting and following this story. Thank you so much for the support._

 _Disclaimer Sonic the Hedgehog is copyrighted to Sega. The only things I do own are the plot and my ocs_.

* * *

The first rays of the early morning light filtered in through the windows of the hospital. The doors to the hospital opened, Aria and Gadget entered the hospital the former crinkled her lips in disgust at the jackals tugging Gadget forward sitting on the other side of the reception shooting a dagger-filled glare at Zerinn.

"Don't make eye contact with the jackal's Gadget," Aria said loudly. "We're here to pick up Mikhail and take him home."

Zerinn ignored Aria's hostility resuming his frantic pacing in the reception. To put it lightly Zerinn looked exhausted; his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. The faint smell of blood clung stubbornly to his fur. Something was different about Zerinn whenever Saber had time to look at his leader's eyes. They were hardened and somewhat crazed.

"Zerinn, you need to rest," Saber said softly. "I know you're concerned for Kaito. I'm worried about him as well, and there's no doubt in my mind too Nephthys and Ace will be concerned once they find out what happened to Kaito."

Zerinn turned his head towards Saber his eyes heavy with exhaustion. For a few minutes, Gadget saw Zerinn wobbling his eyelids closing. Gadget pushed himself out of his seat causing Quartz to moan sleepily in protest. The red wolf slung Zerinn's arm around his shoulders steadying him propping him upright.

"Gadget, stop it," Zerinn said hoarsely. "It was my fault what happened to Kaito. I won't let anyone else in my squad, no my family ever get hurt ever again. I don't care who my opponent is. No one hurts my family and gets away with it."

"Excuse me, Mr. Jackal?"

Zerinn and Saber turned towards a beaver nurse wearing a name tag that said May. May hastily approached them forward tapping her pencil to a clipboard. "I'm here to inform Mr. Zerinn that his younger half-brother is awake, and he wants to see his older half-brother." The nurse said with a soft, gentle smile. "However his injury on the bridge of his snout will leave a scar."

Zerinn exhaled in relief knowing Kaito was going to be okay. Zerinn knew it wasn't wise to give his real name or any of his squadmates' real names to a stranger. Zeriin was relieved he hadn't failed in his duty as a leader. He and Saber followed the beaver into the elevator traveling up to the third floor hearing small ding signaling their arrival.

The two jackals were led down a hallway towards a small room marked 135.

"So which door is it?" Zerinn asked tiredly stifling a yawn.

"Don't be too long, boys," The nurse said opening the door a creak. "Please be quiet around Kaito. He's still a little sore and tired."

A small shaft of light entered the dark room where Kaito let out a low moan opening his bright yellow eyes. A blood bag remained attached to his wrist a steady drip running down the tube.

"Zerinn, Saber, I'm so sorry I caused everyone to worry about me," Kaito whispered his voice faint. It came as a shock to everyone, for Kaito used to have a loud voice filled with energy. "I wanted to prove you didn't make a mistake choosing me to be second in command."

Zerinn sighed picking up on his half brother's emotional distress. Zerinn gently put his hand over his brother's ungloved hand, rubbing small circles in a soothing gesture. The jackal paused for a few uncertain moments struggling with what to say to Kaito.

"Kaito, I told you to stay put for a reason," Zerinn spoke quietly, but firmly. " I can understand your eagerness to prove you're a capable second in command. No one's saying that you're not a good second in command. I can't have disobedience in my squad. It makes me look like a - I mean the Jackal Squad a weak group of mercenaries. Other mercenary groups could kill us at any moment. You also scared everyone in our squad to death."

Kaito trembled with emotion, small salty tears leaking out from underneath the corners of his eyes. Zerinn leaned forward drawing his younger half-brother into a gentle hug gently running his hand down Kaito's back reassuring him.

Saber stood back allowing the two half-siblings some space until a deep cough caught Zerinn's attention the nurse standing there.

"Kaito needs to rest. I'm afraid its time for you to go."

Zerinn nodded. "We'll come back to visit you. I'm not going to be angry at Nephthys and Ace, but promise me you will never pull this kind of stunt again."

"I promise, I'll never do something that reckless again."

Satisfied with Kaito's response Zerinn turned around silent signaling Saber to follow him the two jackals exited the room, the door closing softly behind them heading down the hallway back to the reception. Upon arriving at the reception, Zerinn saw Nephthys and Ace standing in the reception both of them were conversing with the rest of the Jackal Squad until Nephthys turned on her heel facing Zerinn.

"We just got here," Nephthys said. "Zerinn we're sorry about Kaito escaping when we weren't looking, we should've been more vigilant."

"You should've been. Because of your carelessness, Kaito got hurt. From now on I want the two of you to be more focused, so no one else gets hurt again have I made myself clear?"

Nephthys and Ace exchanged a glance with each other feeling the waves of anger radiating of Zerinn's body. "Yes, boss, from now on we're going to be more vigilant to prevent anyone else from getting hurt."

Zerinn grunted in response heading back over to one of the plastic chairs sinking into it his hands folded across his lap, leaning back in the chair with an irritated sigh glancing up at the clock his tail thudding against the floor.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mikhail limped forward on a pair of crutches heading towards the reception area Gadget's couldn't stop the broad smile on his face hurrying over to Mikhail placing a gentle arm across his shoulders.

"I'm so glad you're going to be okay Mikhail," Gadget said. "

"You're lucky you slightly sprained your ankle, and it wasn't serious," Aria said softly. "Mikhail it's all my fault, I should've been keeping a closer eye on the both of you. I have a nice bed set up downstairs for you when we get home."

"The accident wasn't your fault mother," Mikhail said softly to Aria. "I'll promise to be more careful in the future. I'm sorry for scaring both you and Gadget, and in the future, I promise to look where I'm going from now on."

The doors of the hospital opened, and Gadget turned around to notice a familiar brown and white dog entering the hospital with a leather bag slung over his shoulder hurrying over to drop off a pile of mail with a smile on his face before turning on his heel noticing Gadget for the first time.

"Wait, a minute it can't be," Gadget hurried over to Russell seeing a look of recognition appearing in the dog's eyes. "Wait a minute is that you Russell?"

Russell turned around surprised at the sound of Gadget's voice before he grinned.

"Oh, hey it's great to see you again," Russell said warmly shaking Gadget's hand. "I work a mail job in the mornings to help pay the rent since I work in a bakery on my weekends. Okay I know we barely got a proper introduction, but you wouldn't mind coming with myself and a couple of friends of mine to the theater this afternoon with if that's okay with you?"

Gadget froze in surprise his brain struggling to come up with a response. He barely even knew Russell, so being invited on a trip with someone he barely knew was a little daunting. Gadget turned around noticing Ace glancing at him stoically.

"Its very kind of you to take my adoptive son out for a trip to the cinema," Aria said coming closer lowering her voice. "Besides, I think it would do him some good to hang out with other Mobians apart from jackals. We'll come and pick you up at seven thirty tonight."

Gadget glanced down at his feet feeling a heat creeping into his fur from embarrassment. "Its a nice offer, but

"I wouldn't worry about it they like meeting new faces," Russell said. "Besides I owe you one, for getting me out of trouble with my boss. If you want my opinion the jackal, you were hanging around with looks like a troublesome sort of fellow."

"I'll come the next time you guys get to do something," Mikhail said. "Gadget could always use a few more friends. My name is Mikhail by the way; I'm Gadget's older halfbrother."

"Then it's settled then," Aria said beaming. "We'll pick up Gadget at seven thirty tonight. I hope you have a good time sweetie."

"I will mother, and I promise to be at the meeting point at seven thirty tonight on the dot."

A door opened as Zerinn stepped into the reception area, a blanket draped around his body still looking a little sleepy, but a small smile graced his face. Gadget felt relief noticing his friend looked a lot less tense. Zerinn turned towards Gadget smiling softly. Aria scoffed turning on her heel folding her arms across her chest not making eye contact with the jackal gesturing to Mikhail to follow her, Mikhail said goodbye to Gadget before following his adoptive mother the doors sliding shut behind them.

"Kaito will be okay according to his nurses," Zerinn said beaming. "He will have a little scar on his muzzle, but he told me once he wanted a scar like mine, so it's his badge of honor. The nurses say he'll need a few days to recover. I also overheard your conversation about a cinema trip, before I came in. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Zerinn paused looking in Russell's direction the small smile fading away noticing Russell for the first time. A slight frown crossed Zerinn's muzzle eying the dog warily. Right now the last thing Zerinn wanted to do was to get into a fight with causing him to get thrown out of the hospital especially with Gadget looking at him with such a worried expression on his face.

"Okay, then I guess you deserve to have a little fun," Zerinn said tiredly not wanting to engage in a verbal fight with any of the individuals in the room. "On the condition, you don't tell Russell anything else about us."

Gadget ran forward embraced Zerinn. Zerinn hesitantly placed his arm around them giving him a quick hug before quickly stepping back. Gadget frowned noticing his best friend looking away from him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Thank you Zerinn," Gadget replied smiling. "I know you're concerned about Kaito and it's not your fault what happened to him. You're not a weak leader."

"I'm sorry I wasn't awake when the nurse showed up and let you know he was going to be okay," Mikhail added in. "Truth be told, I would have no idea what I would've done if something happened to Gadget if he was hurt and I would be worried sick about Gadget too, Zerinn."

Russell wisely chose not to say anything, but a sense of unease cropped up in his body. His brain screamed out in protest that Zerinn was a bully. He had no idea why Gadget and Mikhail would make any promises to this bully of a jackal. A small voice at the back of his mind warned him that getting into an argument with the jackal was not a good idea. The last thing he wanted to do was getting involved in a fight with Zerinn especially with five more jackals shooting him hostile glares from across the reception area.

"It's just one film he's going to see," Russell said keeping his tone respectful. "Besides even though I'm sure they can make their own decisions in the long run."

Zerinn grunted choosing to ignore Russell's barbed comment turning on his heel walking away from Russell his tail thudding on the ground muttering something low under his breath.

"What are you waiting for Gadget?" Russell called out waving his hand. "I'll give you a tour of Sunset Heights before we see the movie."

Zerinn nodded turning on his heel walking back to the reception area. Zerinn observing Gadget was leaving with Rusell. Zerinn tried to ignore a small pit of jealousy building up in his stomach. Ace looked up noticing his leader's unease before handing Zerinn a small piece of paper.

"Boss, I've got some good news," Ace said smiling "While you were seeing Kaito, this fox approached me saying he needs our help to take out the Skunk Squad. They don't even have to do any fighting. All they need to do is to steal their weapons leaving the Skunk Squad with no way of being able to fight back."

* * *

In all the time Gadget resided within Red Gate City, he didn't fully realize just how big Sunset Heights was. They stuck close to Rusell walking through the jam-packed streets. Russell pointed out everything various locations such as the most prominent shopping plaza, along with scenic oceanside views. Gadget and Mikhail stared in wonder until they came to a sizeable well-furnished building with a bright billboard showcasing various movie titles. A small crowd of Mobians lined up outside the cinema.

Five Mobians stood off to the side a purple bird, a pair of cyan cats and another dog standing around talking in excitement. Russell came to a stop seeing smiles alight on the four Mobians.

A giant movie poster stood out Chao in Space one and two marathon this afternoon one day only.

"Hey guys, this is Gadget," Russell said. "Gadget is the one who helped me out two days ago when a thief tried to steal a customer's shipment. The purple bird's Song, Tyson, and Mary are the cat twins and Ian is the grey wolf."

Ian approached Gadget shaking his hand with a warm smile on his face his steel grey eyes betraying a warm smile on his face.

"It's nice to meet you Gadget," Ian said smiling. "It's rare to find a wolf here in Sunset Heights; I always like getting to know new faces."

Song shot Gadget a suspicious glance while the group talking amongst themselves. A pair of red gloves covered her hands. Song's footwear consisted of olive green boots, along with a couple of ebony trousers and a blue and white t-shirt, her pink eyes scanned her surroundings carefully. Gadget noticed the hostel expression on her face. Song folded her hands behind her back her amber eyes scrutinizing Gadget.

"So, you're the wolf hanging around with a bunch of jackals huh?"

The wolf recoiled from the bird's intense glare. Gadget looked to Russell who had his back to him ordering an extra ticket along with some soda and popcorn for Gadget Song took several steps towards Gadget scowling.

"Well, yeah, they're my friends," Gadget shakily said taken aback by the cat's hostility. "I know not all jackals are natural born killers. The jackal I was with is a little rough around the edges, but he's still a good guy."

In response, Song let out a scornful laugh shaking her head pityingly at the red wolf. His faith and trust in a jackal almost made her want to laugh out loud in disbelief at the wolf's foolish nature.

"Yeah, keep on telling yourself that," Song said. "Also, as a small notice when that jackal mutt betrays you, don't come crying to me."

Song turned around turned on her heel walking over to Ian. Gadget stood still trembling with emotion considering the possibility Zerinn could betray him. A light tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around facing Tyson with a concerned expression.

"Gadget are you okay?"

Gadget paused unsure how to answer his half brother's question. He struggled to come up with a proper response to alleviate Tyson's concern.

"I'm fine, Tyson," Gadget lied. "We should get going since I think the film's about to start.

Gadget followed Russell into a packed auditorium settling into their seats. The small group settled into their seats watching the trailers until the movie started. Gadget sipped from the soda bottle watching the previews.

Gadget didn't remember much of the movie except there were a lot of fighting scenes, and the Chao actors were adorable. Subtitles flashed by on the screen translating the Chao's language. By the time the credits were playing. Gadget and Mikhail jumped up surprised by the bright lights illuminating the room.

"They were a good pair of films weren't they?" Rusell asked Gadget smiling.

"They were," Gadget said. "Mikhail and I didn't get much of a chance to see a movie since we've been in an orphanage for most of our lives."

Song and Ian gathered up the rubbish from the aisles with Athena shooting Gadget suspicious glances mouthing the words jackal lover underneath her breath. Russell tapped Gadget lightly on the shoulder pulling him aside to talk about something.

"I overheard your conversation with Song earlier," Rusell said frowning. "I know she can be a bit prickly at first, but she's not so bad once you get to know her."

Gadget nodded not choosing to respond to Russell's statement seeing Athena shoot him a hostile glare before she scoffed turning her head away. The wolf doubted he would ever get along with the cat, but he wasn't going to let her hostility ruin his good time.

Russell's group left the cinema talking about their favorite parts of the movie with Russell and Kai acting out their favorite scenes laughing and joking with each other. After a few minutes, everyone in the group parted ways heading home for the night. Gadget glanced up at a golden clock reading 6:15 pm.

"Whoa, look at the time, we've got to head back," Mikhail said. "We did promise our parents we'd be home by seven thirty, so we'll need to make a brief stop to see how the Jackal Squad's doing."

Rusell looked at them with a crestfallen expression on his face saddened his two new friends had to return home.

"Oh, that's too bad," Russell said. "In all seriousness, I do hope we get a chance to hang out again like this another time again."

Gadget and Mikhail smiled warmly at the dog's genuine friendliness. Song huffed rolling her rolls her eyes muttering something underneath her breath. Tyson, Mary, and Ian said goodbye to Gadget, Russell heading on their way back to their respective homes.

"Thank you so much for inviting me out today. The movie was a lot of fun," Gadget replied. "I hope both you, Kai and Athena get back home safely."

Rusell smiled assuring Gadget, he Kai and Athena would get home safely. Gadget and Mikhail waved goodbye to Rusell Kai, and Athena is beginning to walk back through the mostly quiet city sticking to the brightly lit streets hearing the sound of music booming from several local nightclubs. Both half brothers chatted warmly heading back towards a path towards their home looking forward to a good night's sleep.

After an hour's walk Gadget headed towards the Jackal Squad's bunker Gadget stifled a yawn, the two of them walked down the path leading to the Jackal Squad's shelter. A few lamp posts dimly illuminated the streets the walls of the building loomed out of the darkness. Gadget knocked on the door taking several steps back as the door opened. Zerinn stepped through the door a wary expression on his face. For a few minutes, a tense silence hung between the two Mobians until Gadget broke the ice.

"I thought I check in to make sure you're okay," Gadget said hoping not to anger Zerinn. "How's Kaito doing?"

Zerinn visibly relaxed his body becoming less tense forcing a small smile onto his face. Gadget heard him tapping a nail against the surface of the wooden doorway his jaw clenched before he spoke, keeping his voice low.

"Kaito will have to stay at the hospital for a few more days," Zerinn said averting his eyes. "We've received another job from one of our clients. As a favor don't ask me what we'll be doing, it's none of your concern."

Without waiting for a response, Zerinn headed back into the building. Gadget couldn't shake the feeling of dread forming a tight knot in his stomach

There were very few stars up in the dark skies. The red wolf couldn't shake away his instincts telling him something would go wrong within the next few days. Even the sight of the stars failed to reassure the wolf things were going to okay between Gadget and the rest of the Jackal Squad. A loud car horn snapped Gadget out of his ruminations noticing their adoptive parent's car pulling up to the curb with Cairo rolling down the window a warm smile on his face.

"So, Gadget did you, enjoy the movie?" Cairo asked smiling warmly. "Mikhail and Aria are at home waiting for your return."

"We did, it was a lot of fun, "Gadget replied beaming. "Also, Russell, Kai, and Athena turned out to be nice Mobians. Here's hoping we'll get a chance to do something with them again."

The short drive back to their home was silent. When they arrived back home, Gadget entered his room noticing Mikhail was already before falling into a deep slumber. Gadget stayed awake listening to the distant sound of music coming from their local park, before glancing up at the skies noticing a brighter than usual star beginning to look even dimmer than usual.

"Perhaps, maybe our friendship won't be able to survive this fight after all," Gadget said to himself. "If I do get a chance to talk to Zerinn, maybe we can work things out."

It was a small kernel of fragile hope, but for a moment Gadget thought he glimpsed a fennec fox diving into the bushes outside of his home before the wolf shrugged his shoulders closing the window shut before settling into an uneasy slumber.

Aster stalked through the streets of Sunset Heights pausing briefly glancing up at a flash of red fur leaving the windows before a small crooked smile spread across his face lips pulling back to reveal sharp teeth.

"So, this is where the Eggman worshipper's living now," Aster said with a chuckle. "Perhaps a little reunion is in order. I never meant to part ways with Chad and Mara, but I'll find a way to get back into their good graces."

With a plan forming in his mind preparing to head back to Shamar, all Aster needed was a way to convince his former allies to help him deal with the Eggman lover once and for all. Pushing down the fear after witnessing Zerinn murdering the leader of the Wolf Squad, Aster would exact revenge on the rest of the Jackal Squad once and for all.

* * *

 _Author's note While this chapter was shorter along with not a lot of action went on in this one; this is a calm before the storm chapter. After the events with Kaito receiving his scar, I figured it was time to give Russell and his group of friends a little more spotlight in this chapter to establish a friendship with Gadget and Mikhail. While Gadget is forming a bond with his new friends, it will lead to even more tension between Gadget and Zerinn._

 _Rusell makes his second appearance here while his group of friends also makes their debut. Chao in Space is a series of movies that were featured in Sonic Adventure one and two since I figured having Gadget and Mikhail going to a film gave me an opportunity to do so._

 _The reason as to why Song is mostly hostile to Gadget and a lesser extent Mikhail is due to her belief jackals under no circumstances can be trusted. Rusell does tend to tell his friends everything. After hearing about how Rusell nearly got robbed by a jackal doesn't paint them in a favorable light with her._

 _As per usual thoughts/constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will be back with next week's chapter. I wish you guys to have a good rest of the week and stay safe._


	19. Shadows on the ground

_Author's note, Sorry this fic's been dead for a little over three months now, thanks to severe writers' block, but I've conquered it, and I'm going to see this story all the way through to the end. Another reason for this unfortunate delay was due to me being busy preparing for an upcoming trip which left me with barely any time to sit down and work on this story along with going back and editing previous chapters._

 _A shout out goes to Turquoise Triangle, Farris Yi, and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review, thank you so much for your support on the story. Also, I want to thank everyone else for being patient with me during this long delay._

 _Also, I wish to extend an apology to SpiderDom 321, for asking for his advice on whether or not to continue this story. Another reason for the lack of updates for the last few months I've been dealing with some stress, I'm feeling a little bit better now._

 _I also want to give everyone who either left a favorite or follow, or by even viewing this story for helping it reach over 5200 views a shout and thank you, for the support since after this chapter there will be three chapters left to this fic._

 _A shout out goes out to Farris Yi, for leaving a favorite and a follow on this story, thank you so much for the support._

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega does. The only things I own are my original characters and the plot of the story._

* * *

In the middle of the night, a commotion caused Gadget to stir from a peaceful slumber. Gadget slipped out of bed hurrying down the stairs glancing up at the clock on the wall, which read two thirty am. The entered the kitchen towards the window pulling back the thin curtains from the window noticing some movement coming from outside.

Gadget pushed the curtains aside glimpsing the Jackal Squad silently walking past his home heading through the empty streets.

 _They're up to something_. Gadget thought to himself; _Maybe I should follow the Jackal squad and find out precisely what Zerinn's planning now._

Gadget silently reached for the utility belt slinging it over his head making sure it settled comfortably against his chest, but before he opened the door, a blast of arctic wind hit him in the face prompting Gadget to wrap his arms around himself shivering from the cold air.

The wolf silently left his home following the group of jackals for several city blocks until his boot knocked over a pair of empty glass bottles, the wolf winced hearing the bottles the sound alerted the jackals to turn around aiming fierce glares at the red wolf until Zerinn broke the silence.

"What are you doing up this late Gadget?" Zerinn asked keeping his tone steady.

"Zerinn, I know you're upset that Kaito got hurt and you feel like its all your fault," Gadget said pleadingly. "But please don't take it out on innocent people. Like with what you did with Russell, it's not his fault he was the victim of a robbery."

"He was a coward who can't even stand up for himself," Zerinn said with an edge to his voice."Besides he can't always rely on someone else to come and save him. If you were thinking of coming with us, you're more then welcome to, but stay out of our way."

To Gadget it sounded like Zerinn said the last sentence as a threat. The other jackals began to follow Zerinn silently continuing their trek in silence. Saber regarded Gadget stoically before following his leader.

A sense of dread began to build up in Gadget's stomach. The wolf paused looking over at the retreating forms of the jackals swallowed up by the darkness heading out to the grasslands surrounding Red Gate City. Gadget sprinted easily catching up with the jackals despite his lack of training, earning a scornful glare from Zerinn.

"Gadget, this isn't a game," Zerinn hissed. "If something happens to you, do you realize how furious Mikhail is going to be once he finds out you've bailed on him?"

"Mikhail was fast asleep when I left," Gadget said with resolve. "If he were here with me, he wouldn't agree with what you're doing; he would say you're an egotistical idiot."

Gadget ignored Zerinn's scoff crouching low in the grass following the hidden jackals moving silently through the long grass. Zerinn felt a small pit of dread forming in his stomach. Gadget shouldn't be out here with them he was too inexperienced, he'd never even killed a Mobians before. Zerinn was afraid - one wrong move, and his best friend in Mobius most likely would get himself killed.

The group climbed onto a small outcropping to be immediately greeted by a foul smell hitting them in the nostrils; The jackals covered their sensitive noses, their eyes watering from the foul odor. Gadget felt bile rising in his throat, fighting back the urge to vomit, before Zerinn pointed silently to the source of the odor: a group of three skunks stalking the grasslands, on high alert for any form of attack.

"Huh, there's not that many members in a group called the Skunk Squad," Ace commented observing them. "Boss, maybe we should fall back, in case we're outnumbered, I'm sure Kaito should be well enough to fight alongside us now, and we can send Gadget home."

"I'm not doing that, I refuse to be weak and order a retreat," Zerinn said stoically. "Besides we outnumber them five to three, and we have the element of surprise."

Zerinn's eyes were watering; he gestured for the group to head back down the hill away from the foul odor. Gadget stumbled nearly crashing into Nephthys who glared at him briefly before heading down the grassy slope. Gadget's ears pricked at the sounds of something rustling through the long grass. Gadget felt Saber tapping him lightly on the shoulder standing next to Zerinn.

"A client's willing to pay us good money if we wipe out every single member of the Skunk Squad," Saber said. "If I were you Gadget, I would suggest that you turn back now. Imagine if Mikhail wakes up and realizes his half-brother ran off without telling him where he went he's going to be worried sick about you."

"Is money the only thing Zerinn cares about now?" Gadget said fiercely. "No, If I can speak with Zerinn, this attack isn't necessary."

Zerinn fell back hearing the conversation between Gadget and Saber his expression fierce running back to shake Gadget by the shoulder roughly in barely suppressed frustration at Gadget's stubbornness to go back home.

"Not everyone in the world is a good citizen Gadget," Zerinn said fiercely "Have you forgotten about those three bullies who used to attack you when you were growing up in the refugee camp? If I recall, correctly they were going to kill you at one point, because you loved working on machines."

Gadget fell silent; his brain struggled to come up with an appropriate response. "I haven't forgotten I nearly died at Chad's hands, but you stuck up for me back then. I still want to believe there's still some good in you."

Zerinn scowled ignoring Gadget's plea stalking towards Nephthys speaking to her in low tones; the female jackal folded her ears back. Grumbling, she handed Zerinn a small dagger. The wolf barely had time to register the blade being placed in the palm of his hand feeling Zerin leaning close to him his breath tickling the wolf's ear.

"If you want to prove you can be one of us, you have to go in for the kill," Zerinn whispered. "Unless you want to turn around now. The situation we're in now at any moment could become a life or-"

Before Zerinn could finish his sentence, a pair of skunks erupted out of the grass, one of them tackled Ace knocking him off his feet and sending the two of them crashing to the ground. Ace fought back slashing with his katana, drawing a line along the arm of the skunk, who fell back with a pained howl before Ace quickly got to his feet tackling the skunk to the ground stabbing the skunk in the throat then wrenching his sword free leaving a blood trail staining the ground.

"Damn it!" Ace cried out "We've walked straight into an ambush!"

Ace's shout carried over the breeze. Gadget saw Zerinn racing towards another skunk who was pinning Saber to the ground. Zerinn drove his sword into the skunk's back, and another pained scream filled the air as the skunk toppled to the ground clutching his back before Saber and Zerinnb made short work dispatching the skunk, lying still on the ground, all around Gadget a fierce battle raged around him.

More skunks erupted from the grass, their leader sauntered forward a sinister smile on her face, eying up the jackals fighting for their lives. Clad in khaki clothing, the pale-furred skunk turned her attention towards Zerinn who dispatched another skunk although the wide smile never left her face. Gadget met her gaze and the skunk charged for him roughly shoving him down to the ground and placing a foot in the small of Gadget's back, holding him down along with a small dagger pressed to his neck.

IU the Ultimate Mercenary fell for the oldest trick in the book," The skunk sneered. "The name's Mari, kid and if your friend doesn't stop fighting right now, you are toast."

Upon hearing their leader's shout, everyone ceased fighting; three skunks lay dead on the ground blood flowing from their wounds into the grassy ground staining the grass tips red. Zerinn shoved another skunk away from him, his muzzle splattered with blood a crazed look was in Zerinn's eyes, his gaze fixating on the small dagger in Gadget's hands.

"Let him go, skunk!" Zerinn's shout carried across the air. "He's not a member of our squad; he's just a random nobody who got caught up in this whole mess by pure accidental chance!"

Gadget froze upon hearing the word 'nobody,' his lip began to tremble. Seeing the glance Ace, and Nephthys exchanged with each other in silent disbelief. The wolf started to shake with barely repressed emotions. Gadget glanced over at Zerinn a fighting back angry hot tears.

"So, I'm a nobody to you Zerinn?" Gadget asked hurt evident in his voice.

Gadget's question caught Zerinn by surprise, the jackal's eyes widened in shock, his mouth parted as though he wanted to say something, perhaps a small kernel of hope within Gadget hoped Zerinn would realize his mistake, tell the skunk they were friends

"We're here to wipe out your squad skunk," Zerinn said ignoring Gadget's question. "I told you before he's a nobody, that happened to get caught up in this whole mess, he shouldn't have even been out here, to begin with."

In an instant Gadget gripped the dagger driving it into Mari's barefoot causing her to scream in pain, releasing her grip on Gadget. In that instant, Zerinn seized his chance racing across the grass his blade raised striking at the skunk's exposed neck; crimson blood gushed into the air from the gaping wound in the skunk's throat. Mari shakily pressed a hand to the oozing blood her white glove quickly became saturated in blood.

"Skunk Squad as my last order, kill those jackals," Mari wheezed before her knees crumbled to the ground her whole body toppling over hitting the ground her last breath slipping out of her lips.

A dreadful silence hung in the air between them the silence broke by a shriek coming from a dark grey skunk hurrying over to where his leader lay stopping short upon seeing her sightless yellow eyes staring up at the sky.

"Mari! She's dead!"

"Jackal Squad we need to fall back now!" Zerinn's shout jolted Gadget out his stupor and running after the rest of the jackals broke into a run, Nephthys lashing out with her dagger stabbing the skunk closet to her in the chest before joining her fellow jackals running across the blood-soaked fields the angry shouts of the skunks right behind him.

A sharp yank sent Gadget tumbling down; the wolf turned his head to see one of the skunks grasping his ankle; beaming sinisterly at the terrified wolf. Gadget swiftly delivered a hard kick to the skunk's face forcing him to let go, rubbing at his nose, hearing the bones crack. Gadget's instincts screamed at him to keep running, up ahead he saw Sunset Heights appearing on the horizon hearing the pursuing skunks breaking off their pursuit a voice on the wind caught the wolf's attention.

"Tell your boss if he ever comes back to the Skunk Squad's territory again we'll kill him!"

The Jackal Squad didn't stop running until they reached the city's limits before finally coming to a stop bending over hands on their knees panting from the sudden exertion from their frantic chase. Zerinn looked up at Gadget the red wolf looked back at him in horror beginning to tremble, small tears falling from his eyes looking at Zerinn for the first time.

"You lied to me," Gadget whispered. "About not stealing those skunks were Mobains, they didn't deserve to die."

Gadget tore his gaze away from Zerinn not wanting to hear the jackal's excuses breaking into a fast walk seeing Quartz and Ace staring at the ground choosing to say nothing for a long time.

Zerinn hurried after Gadget; the wolf rubbed at his eyes, choosing to ignore Zerinn's shouts, the early morning light reflected off his glasses before a strong hand wrapped around Gadget's upper arm holding the wolf in place. Gadget winced feeling the claws digging slightly into the wolf's fur.

"Gadget, will you listen to me?" Zerinn asked. "I only said all that stuff about you being a nobody to deter her from killing you, idiot. Besides, if I told what the Jackal Squad did you wouldn't understand why we kill to survive. In this world, the strong survive, and the weak perish."

Gadget turned around to look at the rest of the Jackal Squad glaring back at him with dry blood staining their fur; they weren't the kind of Mobians Gadget wanted to befriend.

"Your father was right about you, you are weak," Gadget said unable to stop the words tumbling out of his mouth. "Not only that, you have a hot-headed ego in your drive to become the Ultimate Mecernary. All you do is kill innocent Mobians who had nothing to do with your ego fuelled killing spree."

"Take it back Gadget I'm not weak!"

Without warning, Zerinn lunged at Gadget punching him hard in the face. Gadget staggered back holding his eye unable to see an expression of shock appearing on Zerinn's face. A dull throbbing erupted around Gadget's left eye the wolf raised his head meeting Zerinn's gaze, before mentally weighing the pros and cons of landing a punch on Zerinn.

"No, I see how it is," Gadget said quietly, "I can take a hint, you're jealous that I've found some new friends, you're scared that I'm going to choose them over you. I'm sorry for calling you weak, but there are different ways about obtaining personal strength, but you're going about it the wrong way."

Ace, Saber, and Nephthys held their breaths in stunned disbelief at Gadget's statement, several pairs of scared eyes turned towards Zerinn twitching with barely suppressed rage before letting a tense sigh escaping his lips reaching up with a clawed hand fiddling with the scarf from around his neck before a low, tired sigh escaped his lips.

"Fine, I see how it is," Zerinn said icily. "I'll back off and give you some space. I only said those things to save your life, but it doesn't matter you go and cry to your new friends for all I care."

The sound of footsteps echoed off the cobblestones; Gadget remained still not even wanting to risk looking back at Zerinn, walking away with his squad, none of them looked back at the wolf. For several minutes, Gadget sprinted down the path leading back to his home ignoring the pain from his black eye after hearing Zerinn calling him a nobody and lying to him all this time.

The door creaked open; Gadget paused listening for any signs his older half-brother would be awake making breakfast, setting down some pancakes talking with his younger half-brother encouraging him to follow his dreams. The door to the hallway remained dark; Gadget forlornly walked up the stairs his tail dragging behind him.

A soft gasp drew his attention to Mikhail standing at the bottom of the stairs his gaze drawn to the purple bruise on Gadget's left eye staring at him from behind slightly cracked glasses.

"Gadget what happened to your eye?"

"Zerinn gave me a black eye, "Gadget said hoarsely. "Please, don't tell mum and dad about this."

"Sit down on the step; I'll go get you an ice pack."

Mikhail limped on his crutches to the kitchen retrieving an icepack passing it to his younger half-brother who muttered a thank you pressing it to his eye. Mikhail draped an arm around Gadget's shoulder. Gadget told Mikhail the whole story how he'd noticed the Jackal Squad slipping away in the dead of night having followed them, about the encounter with the Skunk Squad.

"And then I called Zerinn weak, and he punched me," Gadget finished his story. "Mikhail, I should've realized Zerinn had been lying to me all this time. I don't know what to do anymore; I thought we were friends. I trusted him."

"I trusted him too," Mikhail said solemnly. "We should've known better than to trust any of them. From now on we're both going to keep our distance from them, I don't want to see you getting hurt Gadget."

"I'll stay away from the Jackal Squad," Gadget said. "Mikhail, I know you're angry with Zerinn, but please don't do anything rash."

"I promise you I won't do anything rash Gadget, if you need to cry, then do so."

Gadget said nothing instead choosing to sob softly into Mikhail's shoulder. Mikhail silently rubbed soothing circles on Gadget's back whispering soothing words that everything was going to be okay stroking his shoulder. Deep down a small spark aimed at Zerinn grew in Mikhail's heart.

 _I'll find a way to pay you back Zerinn. No one messes with Gadget and gets away with it._ Mikhail vowed to himself clenching his fist feeling his hand trembling from the repressed anger. Mikhail didn't care what the consequences of his action would be; he would do everything in his power to protect Gadget no matter what happened to him.

* * *

Author's _note With the events of this chapter it's the beginning of the end of the friendship between Gadget and Zerinn. However, this fic is not quite yet over, since Zerinn was more in the wrong when it came to the argument due to having lied to Gadget about what the Jackal Squad did. It won't be the last time Gadget, and Zerinn will interact with each other since there is going to be more angst coming their way soon._

 _Mikhail will become Gadget's confidant and closet friend in Gadget's time of need. He is far from happy upon learning Zerinn has attacked Gadget because Mikhail is protective of his younger half-brother. Sooner or later Mikhail is going to go after Zerinn to give him some payback which will result in the consequences of his actions._

 _As per usual thoughts/constructive criticism/ any accidental errors I need to go back and fix, and reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always. I'll talk to you guys with the next chapter hopefully sometime within the new year._


	20. Tension

_Author's note Here I am back with another chapter. At the time of this chapter being posted, my family and I were in the process of moving into our new house, so I was able to update this fic. Sorry if updates have been slow, its just been a busy time for us. We're finally settling into our new place. Thank you all for being patient during this time._

 _Special thanks go to The Sensational SpiderDom 321, Sharp DragonKlaw, Black Twilight Wolf, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Turquoise Triangle and Farris Yi, for leaving a review. Thank you so much for the support._

 _Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is the removal of the plan Blade, and Roscoe came up with to turn both Gadget and Zerinn against each other, however when I went back over the plot point, I couldn't find a way to make it work, so that's why there's no more mention of it. Also, Blade, Roscoe, and Iris will be making an appearance soon within the story._

 _Warnings. There will be blood and violence in this chapter._

 _Disclaimer Its the same as the previous chapters. I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

The Jackal Squad stalked through the streets of Sunset Heights. Zerinn led the way, his jaw clenched. His fingers were tightening their group around the hilt of his sword as he stormed over to a cat standing there on the corner of the curb. A smirk appeared on the cat's lips upon noticing the jackals approaching him. Ace tapped Zerinn on the shoulder; the gesture earned him an angry glare from his leader a small scowl forming on his face.

"This better be good, Ace," Zerinn snarled."I'm not in the mood to deal with anything stupid right now."

"Boss, that cat is the client who promised to pay us if we wiped out every single member of the Skunk Squad," Ace said. "We only took out the leader along with a few members. He's not going to pay us. What do we do?"

The cat wasted no time in approaching them a smirk already forming on his face eying up Zerinn. Zerinn cautiously stared down at him his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

"So, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation," The Cat said. "You said the rest of the Skunk Squad weren't dead, huh? Well, that's too bad, since I only agreed to pay if you killed every single member. Perhaps the rumors were true; the Jackal Squad are the weakest group of mercenaries in all of Mobius."

The cat chuckled to himself turning on his heel when a sudden searing pain tore throughout his body; the cat cast his startled gaze down to his chest to see the tip of a crimson sword exploding through his stomach, tearing through flesh, fur, and skin.

The cat gagged on his blood feeling Zerinn leaning closer to his ear whispering something into his ear which set a chill running down the dying Mobian's spine.

"No, you're wrong about my squad being the weakest, we're the best squad in all of Mobius. Your corpse will be a message warning everyone not to mess with the Jackal Squad."

Zerinn yanked back on the sword; the cat slumped forward his eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky. Zerinn smirked ignoring the growing pool of blood forming around the dead cat's body, before reaching out for the small money pouch unhooking it from the belt.

"Whoa, Zerinn, have you lost it?" Nephthys breathed out in horror "He's our client. If someone finds his dead body, the word's going to get out that we killed a client and no one is going to want to hire us for any future jobs."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm well aware of that Nephthys," Zerinn said. "We're not going to be sticking around here for much longer. Once we get Kaito out of the hospital we can kiss this dump goodbye along with along with that traitor Gadget."

The other jackals fell silent, following Zerinn and leaving the dead body of their client to rot in the street walking towards the hospital. Zerinn tossed the coin pouch up and down in his hand with a relaxed gesture.

The stress he felt from the failed mission to kill everyone in the Skunk Squad faded away. Leaving the cat's body to rot in the early morning sun left him with a feeling of satisfaction. Admittedly, the sight of a dead cat would get them noticed by the authorities sooner which would be a disadvantage for sure but it would also leave a message to any wary Mobian to never cross the Jackal Squad if they valued their lives.

* * *

Kaito was disturbed from a peaceful slumber, hearing the window open and noticing Zerinn leaping up into his room. Kaito looked up at him his amber eyes wide upon in shock seeing his half brother walking towards him, roughly pulling back the blanket and nearly dragging Kaito out of bed.

"Zerinn? What are you doing here? The hospital-"

"We're leaving Sunset Heights in a couple of days. I'm not waiting for some stuffy nurses to discharge you. You can stand, right?"

Kaito shakily nodded, unhooking himself from the IV tube and pushing himself to his feet feeling his older half brother sling an arm around him. Wordlessly Zerinn guided Kaito to the open window. Zerinn allowed Kaito to exit the window first seeing his brother land in the bushes. Zerinn counted the minutes making sure Kaito scrambled to his feet standing with the other jackals.

Satisfied that Kaito had already rejoined the rest of the jackals, Zerinn leapt out of the window, hurrying away from the hospital. The other members of the Jackal Squad following him vanishing into the shadows. Zerinn risked a glance over at his shoulder feeling satisfied with the knowledge even if the other members of the Jackal Squad showed concern towards his actions, no matter what they would follow him to the ends of Mobius.

The silence fell over the small group of jackals when they arrived back at the bunker. Flint and Quartz looked up in surprise seeing Zerinn entering the bunker with Kaito, Ace, Nephthys, and Saber, all of whom bore grim expressions on their faces.

"So, boss how did the mission go?" Quartz asked.

"Terrible, we were only able to kill three members of the Skunk Squad along with their leader. Gadget's no longer a friend to us. He followed us, interfering with our mission. But I have a plan to wipe out the rest of the Skunk Squad."

"Wait what, do you mean Gadget interfered with the mission?" Flint asked.

"Gadget got himself caught by the leader, so I had to kill the leader to save Gadget's life. Of course, Gadget was angered by this, so we got into a fight and I gave him a black eye. The plan to wipe out the rest of the Skunk Squad is simple; we find a way to knock out the members of the Skunk Squad, drag them back here and we're going to kill them right here in Sunset Heights as a warning to all the mercenary squads in Mobius not to cross the Jackal Squad's path."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing Zerinn's proclamation; their leader seemed almost insane. Flint and Ace exchanged an uneasy glance with each other and no one dared to speak up for fear of earning Zerinn's wrath, until Kaito coughed nervously.

"Zerinn, please don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, but we've always made our kills without a lot of fuss," Kaito said. "So, you're saying, by performing an execution in broad daylight, isn't that going to draw unwanted attention?"

"Hmph, so you're going to back out of this mission?" Zerinn asked staring at Kaito his eyes narrowing. "Just becuase you got a little nick on your snout, don't tell me you've gone soft on me now Kaito."

"I haven't gone soft! It's just that, bro, you're not thinking clearly," Kaito protested. "A daytime execution is going to paint a massive target on our backs. Also, the stuff you said about Gadget, there's no way he turned on us! You're lying!"

Zerinn let out a low growl, storming over to Kaito who realized his mistake far too late. Zerinn reached out to grip Kaito's shoulder hard, digging his nails into Kaito's shoulder and silently warning him not to speak out of line any further. Kaito tensed in silent disbelief that his brother would even think of hurting him. Zerinn forced Kaito to face him.

"I'm not lying, Kaito. Our father was right; wolves are nothing more than lying thieves. If you want to leave the Jackal Squad and go live amongst wolves, be my guest. If you do, you're a disgrace to the Jackal Squad."

Kaito stiffened, flattening his ears back against his head, a small scowl forming at the corner of his lips before sighing.

"No, Zerinn, I'll prove to you, that I'm not a disgrace to the Jackal Squad," Kaito replied sullenly. "We'll still go ahead with the public execution of the Skunk Squad. I still don't believe you about Gadget, but if you say he's a liar and a traitor, then it must be the case."

Satisfied with Kaito's answer, Zerinn released his hold on Kaito's shoulder. "That's what I like to hear. You'll still be my second in command, just don't go against my orders ever again. Have I made myself clear Kaito?"

Kaito nodded sullenly folding his ears back against his head in shame not making eye contact with Zerinn, biting his lip nervously.

"Crystal clear, boss," Kaito said sadly.

Zerinn walked past Kaito, striding towards his room to begin packing only for Saber to step into his path, a slight frown on his face. Saber shaking his head slightly at Zerinn, staring at his boss unflinchingly.

"I have to agree with Kaito," Saber said getting right to the point. "The only thing an execution in broad daylight will lead to is even more problems down the road. Boss, I'm not trying to question your leadership, but as a suggestion how about we wipe out the Skunk Squad in the middle of the night and leave their bodies near the entrance to the nearest town as a warning for Mobians not to cross us, boss."

Zerinn paused narrowing his eyes lost in thought. He stood still his tail twitched a couple of times before a dark chuckle left the jackal's throat. "You're right Saber, perhaps that's what we need to do. For now, though let's pack up and get the hell out of this dump."

Saber nodded, silently falling into step behind his leader and heading towards their sleeping quarters. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Saber felt anger at Zerinn at his dismissal of Gadget.

* * *

Back in his apartment, Gadget let out a low moan, feeling the ice pack pressed up against his eye. Aria sitting on the couch a sympathetic noise escaped her lips like a woman trying to reassure her child after the child had taken a nasty fall. In the hallway, Aria could hear Cairo pacing back and forth angrily arguing with the police officer on the other end of the line. Mikhail sitting on the chair his hands in his lap.

Shortly after Gadget confessed what happened to Mikhail an hour ago, his half brother hurried over to their adoptive parent's room, waking them up and explaining what happened to Gadget. Aria, for lack of a better term, was furious she'd fussed over Gadet, while Cario immediately called the police forbidding both his adoptive sons from having any contact with the Jackal Squad.

The half-brothers agreed to leave out the part where Gadget willingly followed the Jackal Squad almost getting himself killed in the process.

"In case I didn't make it clear already jackass, a jackal assaulted my adoptive son!" Cairo screamed into the phone. "Yes, a group of jackals is living in Sunset Heights, just go down there and arrest the leader of the group already!"

Cairo paused speaking his jaw hanging open in disbelief upon hearing the police officer's reply. Cairo was quick to apologize for his error.

"So, you're telling me you can't do a thing becuase your department can't handle dealing with a bunch of rouge jackals then," Cairo said quietly. "Alright then, thanks for being no help at all donut muncher."

Cairo slammed the phone back down on the hook, storming over to his favorite sofa and sitting down burying his head in the palm of his hands. Aria sensing her husband's distress, made her way towards him sitting down on the settee next to him and placing a tender hand on his shoulder.

"I knew that jackal was trouble the second I saw him," Aria said fiercely. "So, the police are refusing to help us with bringing this fiend to justice?"

"I'm afraid so dear," Cario replied all of the fight having left his body. "They refused on since their department has never been trained in how to handle an assault report by jackals as jackals rarely venture into cities in Mobius."

"It's clear we have to keep the boys away from this Jackal Squad," Aria faced her adoptive sons. "If we receive word that the two of you have been hanging around them you will be grounded for a month. Have we made ourselves clear?"

"Yes, Mother you've made yourself clear," Mikhail replied looking to Gadget for confirmation. Thankfully the swelling had gone down making, his eye appear less swollen. The Gadget reached out for the ice pack reapplying it against his face. All he wanted to do was to lie down and forget the awful events of the last twenty-four hours had ever happened.

Gadget sighed hearing a spoon clink against a bowl, turning his head noticing Mikhail walking back over to him with a bowl of cereal setting it down on a table.

"You need to eat something Gadget," Mikhail said.

Gadget nodded rising from the couch and reaching out with a hand to awkwardly pulling the chair closer towards him. Sitting down at the table pouring the milk into the bowl, Gadget took several bites it wasn't much, but it was calories. Mikhail quietly began to eat his breakfast too, the two of them chose not to say anything else eating their meal in silence.

A half hour later, Aria and Cairo headed out of the door to the police station; both parents were determined to bring Zerinn to justice. Aria hugged both boys, informing them they would be back soon. Gadget got up to collect the bowls heading over to wash the dishes.

Mikhail said nothing watching his brother occupy himself with the task desperate, to get the events of yesterday behind him.

"Mikhail, I know I've said this already, the next time you see Zerinn, please don't do anything rash." Gadget begged Mikhail.

Mikahil's jaw clenched at the mention of Zerinn's name. Mikhail longed for the desire to grab a knife or anything sharp to drive it into Zerinn's face, adding even more scars to Zerinn's face. The mental image of Zerinn lying on the ground writhing in agony from his newly formed scars brought a smile to Mikhail's face.

"I still can't believe after he's hurt you're still willing to stand up for him," Mikhail said.

"I don't want you-"

A loud knocking at the door put an end to their conversation. Gadget raced over to the door. Opening it, his heart sank at the sight of Aster who shot him a sinister smile.

"Hey, there Eggman lover, long time no see," Aster said taking several steps entering the hallway. Gadget glowered, feeling his fists clench and taking several steps back in a mixture of fear and unease. Mikhail immediately came to Gadget's defense, getting in between Gadget and his tormentor.

"Look I know we got off to a bad start, Gadget, so I've come here with a little proposition for the two of you. I couldn't help but overhear a rumor the Jackal Squad will be leaving Sunset Heights by today. if you want your vengeance, I would act now; we don't have a lot of time to do so."

Gadget couldn't shake the chill down his spine stepping in between Mikhail and Aster ignoring the glare the fennec fox sent in his direction. It was almost ironic, one of his bullies willingly

Aster grinned gleefully, holding out his knife extending it towards Mikhail. "I'm also seeking revenge on Zerinn after he embarrassed me six years ago. I thought Marcus would be able to kill Zerinn, but he didn't so, for now, I want to call a truce since we both want revenge on Zerinn."

"You're an untrustworthy snake, Aster; we already know where the Jackal Squad lives and are going to taking my vengeance," Mikhail said firmly. "I'm not going to kill him. All I want is to draw a little blood him a few nicks, and then we part ways with the Jackal Squad for good."

Gadget led the way out of their home the trio of Mobians walking down the pathway towards the Jackal Squad's bunker, his jaw set in a determined frown; He glanced up at the afternoon sun. The small knife Aster had given him weighed heavily in his palm. Aster is trailing not too far behind him, the fennec fox fighting to keep his beaming smile with a low chuckle.

Gadget swallowed nervously feeling a tight knot of dread forming in his stomach at the thought of inflicting pain on Zerinn. He felt so weak and useless at being unable to punch Zerinn back when he'd been given the black eye. Gadget hated himself; he was weak, too scared to stand up to his former friend. The wolf had been so lost in his thoughts a hushed whisper from Aster alerted Gadget spying Zerinn on patrol around the bunker.

"Hey, Eggman lover there's your friend," Aster said

"One quick slash is all I need to inflict on him," Mikhail whispered to himself clutching the knife. Before anyone could stop him, Mikhail wasted no time in running out of the brush knife gripped tightly in between his fingers, ramming into Zerinn slashing downwards with the knife, across Zerinn's back eliciting a pained yelp.

Zerinn span around lashing out with his sword, the tip grazing Mikhail's chest. The hybrid, stumbled backward ignoring the thin trickle of blood oozing from his chest. Zerinn clasped his injured shoulder, locking gazes with Gadget and his eyes narrowing a sneer gracing his face.

"I thought I told you to never show your face around here again," Zerinn growled. "Now you're all going to face the consequences."

"No, you're a monster Zerinn," Mikhail snarled. "You had no right to attack Gadget in the manner which you did. This is justice for injuring my brother and your former friend, Zerinn!"

Before Gadget had a chance to shout a warning, Quartz, Ace Flint and Kaito emerged from the bushes. All four jackals launched their attack on Mikhail. The scream Mikhail emitted caused a chill to run down Gadget's spine pain limping from an open stab wound to his leg. Upon seeing Zerinn injure Mikhail his only family member something within Gadget snapped.

Seeing Mikhail fighting for his life when he was outnumbered, Quartz and Ace drove their blades into Mikhail's shoulder eliciting a pained scream from Mikhail, it was unfair. Zerinn glanced over at Gadget being forced to stare into a pair of bright mismatched eyes. Mikhail forced himself to stagger away clutching his shoulder blood oozing from out of his wounds.

"Jackal Squad go in for the kill," Zerinn declared.

The fear he'd felt building up within him vanished as Gadget clenched his fists breaking into a run noticing Zerinn preparing to kill Mikhail, Gadget ran full tilt into Zerinn knocking the jackal to the ground knocking him away from Mikhail. Gadget lay moaning feeling the sharp kick from Zerinn landing on his ribs. Gasping in pain Gadget got to his feet turning to face Zerinn panting wincing slightly from the blow.

"You'll pay for that, Gadget," Zerinn said wincing from the unexpected attack. "In case you haven't gotten the message our friendship is over."

"I got the message alright," Gadget replied, his fists remained clench feeling a twinge of satisfaction he'd been able to land a hit on Zerinn. "You're right our friendship is over, but I won't allow you to harm Mikhail or anyone else ever again."

Zerinn said nothing. Bending down to pick up the short crimson sword noticing Saber's and Nephthys's arrival on the scene, Kaito took several steps forward until he saw Zerinn with his sword drawn bleeding from a couple of shallow cuts on his body.

"Zerinn, Gadget, what the hell is going on?" Kaito asked bewilderment lacing his voice.

"Its like I told you Kaito, Gadget's turned on us, just like Marcus did with our father," Zerinn snarled. "The second I put him in his place we're leaving this town, for good."

"That's fine with me Zerinn!" Gadget rebuked, turning his head slightly and noticing Mikhail shot a glare at Zerinn. A surge of courage caused his heart to swell, he wasn't weak. For the first time in his life, he felt stronger than he ever had before. He glanced over at Mikhail weakly getting to his feet mounting a silent be careful to Gadget.

Underneath the glare of the afternoon sun, the two former friends glared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first strike. To Gadget it didn't matter if he hurt Zerinn at all. To the wolf, his friendship with Zerinn was over.

* * *

Author's note. This was a hard chapter to write up, not only becuase of not just making the upcoming fight between Gadget and Zerinn as to not make it as cliche as possible but to show just how far their friendship has deteriorated until it's reached this point in the story.

The reason why Gadget finally found the courage to stand up to Zerinn is that in his eyes seeing Zerinn commanding the rest of the Jackal Squad to kill Mikhail. It became the breaking point for Gadget becuase he wouldn't allow Zerinn to kill his only living relative.

As for Mikhail's lack of his usual caution is becuase he became blinded with the thought of inflicting pain on Zerinn as a form of payback for injuring Gadget. Mikhail despite his calm demeanour does have a reckless side to him, mostly due to doing everything he can to protect Gadget no matter what.

Aster has always sought revenge on both Zerinn and Gadget for embrassing him during his first encounter in front of the mecernary campsite over six years ago. He'll set his sights on Gadget and Mikhail soon.

As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always. I will see you guys back here as soon as I can with the next chapter.


End file.
